5 minute AMRAP
Redline
Cardio capacity · Engine Room · intensity 3 of 5
The workout
As many rounds as possible in 5 minutes of:
Overview
Redline is 30 mountain climbers and 30 high knees. The work moves through the midline and the full body instead of sitting on one muscle.
Muscles worked
Full body
Midline
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 sets being the same size.
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 30 mountain climbers and 30 high knees.
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
Pure leg turnover. Knees must break the waistline on the high knees or it's a fake rep.
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 mountain climbers be the set that collapses.
The movements
Mountain Climbers (Total)
Keep your shoulders stacked directly over your wrists. If you drift backward, you lose leverage and the movement slows down completely.
What not to do. Landing the driving foot short, so the knee never gets near the chest.
High Knees (Total)
Land lightly on the balls of your feet. If you are stomping flat-footed, you are destroying your momentum and your knees.
What not to do. Leaning back to swing the knees higher instead of keeping the torso stacked.
Why these movements
The work moves through the midline and the full body 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.
Mountain Climbers (Total)
- Low impact. Keep one foot down throughout — march the pattern instead of running it.
- Slower cadence. Same movement, fewer beats per minute. Cadence is the dial, not the shape.
High Knees (Total)
- Low impact. Keep one foot down throughout — march the pattern instead of running it.
- Slower cadence. Same movement, fewer beats per minute. Cadence is the dial, not the shape.
Mistakes and who it is for
- Opening the mountain climbers at a sprint makes the mountain climbers the piece that falls apart.
- Resting until you feel fresh between movements removes the point of keeping them in one round.
- Letting the mountain climbers shrink so the rest of the round can speed up changes the workout on the page.
Suited to someone who wants 5 minutes through Mountain Climbers (Total), High Knees (Total).
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
- High Tide
Same midline, longer clock
- Tension Grid
Same midline, longer clock
- Overwatch
Same midline, longer clock
Run it with friends
Redline runs on a shared countdown: share a rally link, everyone gets the same 5-minute clock, and the leaderboard updates as people log rounds.