5 minute AMRAP
The Vice Grip
Core under fatigue · Midline Tension · intensity 3 of 5
The workout
As many rounds as possible in 5 minutes of:
Overview
The Vice Grip is 20 mountain climbers and 10 strict sit-ups. Every piece stays on the midline. Later rounds slow because the work never leaves the midline.
Muscles worked
Full body
Midline
Energy systems
These are overlapping contributions. This workout is not assigned to one energy system.
- Glycolytic: Moderate
- Oxidative: Moderate
- Neuromuscular: Moderate
Training effect
Immediate demand
5 minutes, intensity 3 of 5. Today the limiter is 20 mountain climbers.
Intended stimulus
The style is built so a trunk position has to survive the moving reps. On this workout that is 20 mountain climbers and 10 strict sit-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
Later rounds slow because the work never leaves the midline.
Pacing
Do not use momentum to throw yourself up on the sit-ups. Roll up one vertebrae at a time.
Build across the clock. Do not open the mountain climbers so hard that the later sets shrink. Do not rest the midline back to fresh between rounds.
The movements
Mountain Climbers
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.
Strict Sit-Ups
Do not throw your arms forward to generate momentum; force the core to pull the weight.
What not to do. Anchoring the feet under something to pull yourself up.
Why these movements
Every piece stays on the midline. Later rounds slow because the work never leaves the midline.
Scaling
Keep a brace or a hollow position in every round. Drop the moving reps before you drop the position that makes the trunk work.
Mountain Climbers
- 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.
Strict Sit-Ups
- Knees bent. Bend the knees to shorten the lever. The shorter it is, the lighter it is.
- Partial range. Move only through the range where you can keep the lower back on the floor.
Mistakes and who it is for
- Opening the mountain climbers at a sprint makes the mountain climbers the piece that falls apart.
- Resting the midline back to fresh between rounds turns this into a different workout.
- Letting 20 mountain climbers fail before you break it is how the next round gets longer.
Suited to someone who wants 5 minutes on the midline and can already do Mountain Climbers, Strict Sit-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
- Active Sonar
Same midline, longer clock
- Overwatch
Same midline, longer clock
- Core Suspension
Same midline, longer clock
Run it with friends
The Vice Grip runs on a shared countdown: share a rally link, everyone gets the same 5-minute clock, and the leaderboard updates as people log rounds.