5 minute AMRAP
Pectoral Panic
Local muscle burn · Localized Trap · intensity 3 of 5
The workout
As many rounds as possible in 5 minutes of:
Overview
Pectoral Panic is 5 diamond push-ups, 5 standard push-ups, and 5 wide push-ups. The work moves through the arms and the chest instead of sitting on one muscle.
Muscles worked
Energy systems
These are overlapping contributions. This workout is not assigned to one energy system.
This workout departs from its style on the profile below.
- Glycolytic: High
- Oxidative: Low
- Neuromuscular: High
Training effect
Immediate demand
5 minutes, intensity 3 of 5. Today the limiter is the arms.
Intended stimulus
The round spreads the work across more than one region. On this workout that is 5 diamond push-ups, 5 standard push-ups, and 5 wide push-ups.
Repeated practice
Repeat the same workout and compare the score. What can change over weeks is how long that pace lasts. One time through does not produce that change.
Body-composition context
Body weight changes with the rest of how you eat and train. This workout is one piece of work on one day.
Expected feel
The sets are the same size. The round gets hard when one of them breaks.
Pacing
A mechanical drop-set. Try to complete all 15 reps unbroken before resting on your knees.
Keep each round about the same length. Do not drop the diamond push-ups to keep the other sets moving.
The movements
Diamond Push-ups
Muscular failure happens suddenly here. Break your sets earlier than you think you need to.
What not to do. Letting the elbows drift outward as the set gets hard.
Standard Push-ups
Breathe in on the descent, aggressively exhale on the press. Do not hold your breath, or your heart rate will redline instantly.
What not to do. Letting the hips sag so the chest reaches the floor before the shoulders do.
Wide Push-ups
This angle completely isolates the chest and removes the triceps from the equation. When pectoral failure hits, it hits instantly. Break your sets into 3s or 4s before the muscle completely shuts down.
What not to do. Setting the hands so wide that the elbows cannot reach a right angle.
Why these movements
The work moves through the arms and the chest instead of sitting on one muscle.
Scaling
Keep every movement in the round. Drop reps on the hardest piece before you drop a movement.
Diamond Push-ups
- Hands elevated. Hands on a bench, chair or step. The higher the surface, the easier the rep.
- From the knees. Knees down, hips in line with the shoulders — do not let the hips pike up.
- Partial range. Lower as far as you can control and press back. Depth grows as you do.
Standard Push-ups
- Hands elevated. Hands on a bench, chair or step. The higher the surface, the easier the rep.
- From the knees. Knees down, hips in line with the shoulders — do not let the hips pike up.
- Partial range. Lower as far as you can control and press back. Depth grows as you do.
Wide Push-ups
- Hands elevated. Hands on a bench, chair or step. The higher the surface, the easier the rep.
- From the knees. Knees down, hips in line with the shoulders — do not let the hips pike up.
- Partial range. Lower as far as you can control and press back. Depth grows as you do.
Mistakes and who it is for
- Opening the diamond push-ups at a sprint makes the diamond push-ups the piece that falls apart.
- Resting until you feel fresh between movements removes the point of keeping them in one round.
- Letting the diamond push-ups shrink so the rest of the round can speed up changes the workout on the page.
Suited to someone who wants 5 minutes through Diamond Push-ups, Standard Push-ups, Wide Push-ups.
Scoring and progression
Work through the movements in the order listed, then start the next round. Your score is the number of complete rounds plus any reps of the round you were partway through when the clock hit zero — written as rounds plus reps, so seven full rounds and twelve reps is7+12.
Progression is repeating this workout and comparing that score. The page does not promise a change from one time through.
Related workouts
- The Anvil
Same chest, longer clock
- The Press Gauntlet
Same chest, same clock
- Tricep Guillotine
Same chest, same clock
Run it with friends
Pectoral Panic runs on a shared countdown: share a rally link, everyone gets the same 5-minute clock, and the leaderboard updates as people log rounds.