AMRAP Timer

AMRAP stands for As Many Rounds As Possible, or sometimes As Many Reps As Possible. The workout gives you a fixed block of time and a sequence of movements, and your score is how many times you get through that sequence before time runs out.

It is the most common workout format in CrossFit because it self-scales perfectly: a beginner and a games athlete do the same workout for the same 12 minutes, and the score separates them rather than the workload.

The classic mistake is going out at a sprint for the first two minutes and then spending the remaining ten recovering. A well paced AMRAP has round times that stay nearly flat, or slow by only a few seconds across the whole piece.

A practical method: decide your target number of rounds before you start, divide the time by it, and use that as your round clock. A 12 minute AMRAP at 8 rounds is 90 seconds per round. If round three takes 70 seconds you are going too fast, not doing well.

Break the reps before you have to, not after. Going 11-9 on a set of 20 by choice beats going 15 and then failing, because the failure costs you a much longer reset.

Cindy is 20 minutes of 5 pull-ups, 10 push-ups and 15 air squats. Mary is 20 minutes of 5 handstand push-ups, 10 pistols and 15 pull-ups. Both are benchmarks, so scoring them once and again six months later tells you something real.

One limit worth knowing before you start: a browser tab cannot make sound once your phone locks or you switch apps, because browsers suspend background tabs to save battery. For a workout where the phone sits in your pocket or face down on the floor, use the app instead. It keeps the clock and the beeps running with the screen off.