5 minute AMRAP
Posterior Turbine
Cardio capacity · Engine Room · intensity 3 of 5
The workout
As many rounds as possible in 5 minutes of:
- 10 Sprawls
- 12 Back Widow
Overview
Posterior Turbine is 10 sprawls and 12 back widow. The work moves through the full body and the upper back instead of sitting on one muscle.
Muscles worked
Full body
Upper back
Energy systems
These are overlapping contributions. This workout is not assigned to one energy system.
- Glycolytic: High
- Oxidative: Moderate
- Neuromuscular: Low
Training effect
Immediate demand
5 minutes, intensity 3 of 5. Today the limiter is the back widow.
Intended stimulus
The style is built so breathing and rhythm, not one muscle, are what the round keeps asking for. On this workout that is 10 sprawls and 12 back widow.
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
12 back widow is where the round gets hard. The other movements still have to be finished after it.
Pacing
Floor transitions keep the lungs hot while the widows load the rhomboids. Hips stay anchored on the press.
The clock is short enough to start near the pace you can hold. Do not spend the first minute looking for a rhythm, and do not let the back widow be the set that collapses.
The movements
Sprawls
Keep a wide stance. Landing with your feet outside your hands reduces the distance your hips have to travel and speeds up the transition to standing.
What not to do. Landing the plank with the hips high instead of level with the shoulders.
Back Widow
Do not turn this into a core crunch. Your lower back and glutes must stay anchored to the floor. The only reason your torso lifts is because your lats and rhomboids are pressing the earth away.
What not to do. Turning the lift into a crunch so the lower back and hips leave the floor.
Why these movements
The work moves through the full body and the upper back instead of sitting on one muscle.
Scaling
Keep the round short enough to repeat. Drop reps so you can stay moving, rather than resting the round into a different workout.
Sprawls
- Step the feet. Step back and step in instead of jumping. Same shape, no impact.
- Hands elevated. Hands on a bench or step so the floor never comes all the way up to you.
- No jump at the top. Stand tall and reach instead of leaving the floor.
Back Widow
- Shorter lift. Drive into the floor but only lift as high as you can control without the hips or neck cheating.
- Hold the squeeze. Reach the top and freeze for a count instead of cycling reps. Same drive, less fatigue management.
Mistakes and who it is for
- Opening the sprawls at a sprint makes the back widow the piece that falls apart.
- Resting until you feel fresh between movements removes the point of keeping them in one round.
- Letting the back widow shrink so the rest of the round can speed up changes the workout on the page.
Suited to someone who wants 5 minutes through Sprawls, Back Widow.
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
- Steady Traction
Same upper back, longer clock
- The Oarsman
Same upper back, longer clock
- The Rower's Pace
Same upper back, longer clock
Run it with friends
Posterior Turbine runs on a shared countdown: share a rally link, everyone gets the same 5-minute clock, and the leaderboard updates as people log rounds.