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10 Best Air Squat WODs for Complete Conditioning and Great Gains

Air Squat WODs are a simple and effective way to build fitness, health and conditioning, often with zero equipment involved.

First let’s recap the technique.

Air Squat Technique

Air Squat WODs

Now dive into the Air Squat WODs. Choose one that you like the look of then add it into your training.

WOD 1 – Laredo

6 Rounds for Time

  • 24 Air Squats
  • 24 Push-Ups
  • 24 Walking Lunges
  • 400 metre Run

With a running clock, as fast as possible perform the prescribed work in the order written for 6 rounds.

Score is the time on the clock when the final 400 metre Run is completed.

Tips and Strategy

There are enough movements (and low enough volume per set) in “Loredo” to avoid any major muscle fatigue. Pick a strong pace from the beginning, and go faster as the rounds progress. Round 6 should be a sprint.

Intended Stimulus

This is a workout designed to challenge your bodyweight strength and your cardiovascular endurance. The athlete should be moving fast and breathing heavily for the majority of the WOD.

This workout should feel a little too long, like it should have only been 4 rounds—not 6.

Scaling Options

Scale the volume (either the total number of rounds or reps) as needed to move smoothly and quickly. A strong pace—and minimal rest breaks—is important to get the benefits of “Loredo.”

Beginner

4 Rounds for Time

  • 24 Air Squats
  • 24 Push-Ups
  • 24 Walking Lunges
  • 400 metre Run
josh bridges air squat wod
WOD time!

WOD 2 – Fat Amy

For Time

  • 50 Air Squats
  • 10 Burpees
  • 40 Sit-Ups
  • 10 Burpees
  • 30 Lunges (alternating legs)
  • 10 Burpees
  • 20 Kettlebell Swings (1.5/1 pood)
  • 10 Burpees
  • 10 metre Bear Crawl
  • 10 Burpees
  • 20 Kettlebell Swings (1.5/1 pood)
  • 10 Burpees
  • 30 Lunges (alternating legs)
  • 10 Burpees
  • 40 Sit-Ups
  • 10 Burpees
  • 50 Air Squats

With a running clock, as fast as possible perform the work in the order written.

Score is the time on the clock when the final repetition (the 50th Air Squat) is completed.

Good Times for “Fat Amy”

– Beginner: 18+ minutes

– Intermediate: 15-17 minutes

– Advanced: 12-14 minutes

– Elite: <11 minutes

Tips and Strategy

In a chipper WOD like “Fat Amy,” there are so many movements that you probably won’t experience major muscle fatigue at any given point. Use that to your advantage and go fast and as unbroken as possible.

Write the WOD in big letters/numbers on the whiteboard so you don’t lose time trying to discern what the next movement is or how many reps you’re supposed to do.

Intended Stimulus

“Fat Amy” should feel fast and breathless. Muscle fatigue shouldn’t be a huge factor in this WOD, but burning lungs should. Scale the volume as needed so you can move quickly.

After “Fat Amy,” you should feel energized–like you could go home, clean your house, cook dinner, and start writing your first book.

Scaling Options

This is a light, (mostly) bodyweight workout with movements that athletes of almost any level can manage. If necessary, scale the volume of repetitions so you can move through the movements quickly and unbroken.

Beginner

For Time:

  • 40 Air Squats
  • 5 Burpees
  • 30 Sit-Ups
  • 5 Burpees
  • 20 Lunges (alternating legs)
  • 5 Burpees
  • 10 Kettlebell Swings (35/26 lb)
  • 5 Burpees
  • 10 metre Bear Crawl
  • 5 Burpees
  • 10 Kettlebell Swings (35/26 lb)
  • 5 Burpees
  • 20 Lunges (alternating legs)
  • 5 Burpees
  • 30 Sit-Ups
  • 5 Burpees
  • 40 Air Squats

WOD 3 – Murph

For Time

  • 1 mile Run
  • 100 Pull-Ups
  • 200 Push-Ups
  • 300 Air Squats
  • 1 mile Run

All with a Weight Vest (20/14 lb)

How do you perform the “Murph” workout?

Start and end the workout with a mile Run. Partition the Pull-Ups, Push-Ups, and Squats as needed. Women wear a 14 lb. weight vest, and men wear a 20 lb. weight vest.

How do you score the “Murph” workout?

Score is the time it takes to complete all the movements, including both runs.

What is a good score for the “Murph” workout?

– Beginner: 63-71 minutes

– Intermediate: 47-58 minutes

– Advanced: 36-41 minutes

– Elite: <35 minutes

What are the tips and strategy to use for the “Murph” workout?

If you choose to partition the reps (which is the original intent of the workout) partition them as follows: 20 rounds of 5 pull-ups, 10 push-ups, and 15 air squats.

In the CrossFit community, this is known as performing 20 rounds of “Cindy.” It’s the most efficient way to partition such a high volume of reps.

What is the intended stimulus for the “Murph” workout?

While this WOD is an endurance-type workout, it should be performed in approximately an hour or less. If, for example, it takes you 90+ minutes to complete, you’ve altered the stimulus and lost the requisite intensity – meaning you should consider scaling.

How do you scale the “Murph” workout?

Beginner

“Half Murph”

  • 1/2 mile Run
  • 50 Pull-Ups
  • 100 Push-Ups
  • 150 Air Squats
  • 1/2 mile Run

(no Weight Vest)

Intermediate (A)

Perform full “Murph” without a weight vest

Intermediate (B)

Perform “Half Murph” with a weight vest (20/14 lb)

Dumbbell Only

For time:

  • 1 mile Run
  • 100 Dumbbell Bent Over Rows
  • 200 Push-ups
  • 300 Air Squats
  • 1 mile Run

No Equipment

For time:

  • 1 mile Run
  • 200 Push-Ups
  • 300 Air Squats
  • 400 Sit-Ups
  • 1 mile Run

No room to run?

Substitute the 1 mile run with 500 Jumping Jacks, the 800m run with 250 Jumping Jacks

WOD 4 – Cindy

AMRAP in 20 minutes

  • 5 Pull-Ups
  • 10 Push-Ups
  • 15 Air Squats

How do you perform the “Cindy” workout?

On a 20-minute clock, perform as many rounds and reps as possible (AMRAP) of the work in the order written. 1 round is equal to 5 Pull-Ups, 10 Push-Ups, and 15 Air Squats.

How do you score the “Cindy” workout?

Score is the total number of rounds and reps completed before the 20-minute clock stops.

What is a good score for the “Cindy” workout?

– Beginner: 11-12 rounds

– Intermediate: 13-17 rounds

– Advanced: 19-22 rounds

– Elite: 24+ rounds

What are the tips and strategy to use for the “Cindy” workout?

Since this WOD is 20 minutes, you’ll need to be at a steady pace throughout most of the workout – a fast pace out of the gate will hurt your score.

Figure out how long it takes you to comfortably do a single round, then try to hold that pace the entire time. What was comfortable at the beginning will get very uncomfortable about half way through. During the air squats, relax your upper body and hands as much as possible.

Use those 15 reps as recovery. But when you see that you have 3 minutes left, put your foot on the gas pedal and go!

What is the intended stimulus of the “Cindy” workout?

By the end of this WOD, you should be wondering what happened to your arms. This lengthy workout is a grind, so stay around 80-85% of your max pace. The only rest you should take is during the 15 air squats. Put your head down and do work for 20 minutes.

How do you scale the “Cindy” workout?

If Rx pull-ups or Rx push-ups aren’t something you can do yet, choose a challenging scale that still allows you to reach full range of motion.

Pull-ups where the chin never actually makes it over the bar or push-ups where the chest never touches the ground will not help you get any closer to an Rx pull-up or push-up. Full range of motion movement is better.

Beginner

  • 5 Ring Rows
  • 10 Incline Box/Bench Push-Ups
  • 15 Air Squats

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