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
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
WOD 5 – The Chief
Five 3-minute AMRAPs in 19 minutes
AMRAP in 3 minutes
- 3 Power Cleans (135/95 lbs)
- 6 Push-Ups
- 9 Air Squats
- Then Rest 1 minute
Repeat 5 times
Complete as many rounds and repetitions as possible (AMRAP) in 3 minutes of the prescribed work in the order written, then rest 1 minute. Repeat five times.
Score
– Official scoring: After each 3-minute cycle, start over. Record the score (rounds+reps) individually for each of the five AMRAPs.*
– Common scoring: After each 3-minute cycle, start where you left off at the end of the previous cycle. Record total rounds and reps completed.
Tips and Strategy
Go fast and hard in round 1 (around 85-90% of your max speed) and note your total rounds/reps. Commit to getting the same score in rounds 2-5 as you do in round 1.
Go unbroken on the Power Cleans. Take big breaths during the Rest period to slow your heart rate down.
If you can, have someone keep your score. There are a lot of rounds and reps and clocks to mind in this workout–having someone keep track of the score/clock allows you to focus on the workout.
Intended Stimulus
“The Chief” is meant to feel really uncomfortable. Almost anytime there is built-in rest in a workout Interval style, it means that the “working portion” is meant to be done fast.
And since the rounds in this benchmark WOD are only 3 minutes long, you’ve got to go hard and ideally unbroken. At the end of this workout, everything in your body should be burning–“The Chief” hits the lower body, upper body, core, and lungs.
Scaling Options
“The Chief” is meant to be performed fast.
This WOD has built-in rest so athletes can push hard during the work phase. The load should feel moderate. Scale the load, the volume, or the skill level (see: Push-Up Scaling) so you can perform unbroken sets throughout the workout.
Beginner
Five 3-Minute AMRAPs in 19 minutes
- 3 Power Cleans (75/55 lb)
- 6 Incline Push-Ups
- 9 Air Squats
- Rest 1 minute
Repeat 5 times.
WOD 6 – Cooper
10 Rounds for Time
- 10 Burpees
- 10 Air Squats
- 10 Push-Ups
- 10 Sit-Ups
Time Cap: 30 minutes
Cooper is a pure bodyweight (“Gymnastics“) workout that consists of 10 rounds of 10 Burpees, 10 Air Squats, 10 Push-Ups, and 10 Sit-Ups. Try to find a (slower) pace that you can maintain for the entire 10 rounds.
The time cap for Cooper is 30 minutes.
Score is the time on the clock when the last round of the Sit-Ups is completed.
Scaling Options
Intermediate
8 Rounds for Time
- 10 Burpees
- 10 Air Squats
- 10 Push-Ups
- 10 Sit-Ups
Time Cap: 30 minutes
Beginner
5 Rounds for Time
- 10 Burpees
- 10 Air Squats
- 10 Push-Ups
- 10 Sit-Ups
Time Cap: 30 minutes
WOD 7 – Super Legs
5 Rounds for Time
- 20 Air Squats
- 20 Alternating Lunges
- 20 Alternating Split Squat Jumps
- 10 Squat Jumps
With a running clock, perform 5 rounds of the prescribed work in the order written as fast as possible (“For Time”).
Score is the time on the clock when the last round of Squat Jumps is completed.
Movement Standards
Split Squat Jumps: Similar to a Jumping Lunge, but no need to touch your knee to the ground. Start in a standing position. Jump your feet to a lunge position, but keep your knee a few inches off the ground. Count one repetition per side.
Jump and switch feet position to land in a lunge with the opposite forward. That’s two repetitions
WOD 8 – Orbison
EMOM for 20 minutes
- 4 Burpees
- 6 Air Squats
- 8 Sit-Ups
Each minute, perform 4 Burpees, 6 Air Squats, and 8 Sit-Ups as quickly as possible. Repeat this 20 times, every minute on the minute (EMOM) until 20 minutes is up.
Example: If it takes you 40 seconds to complete 4 Burpees, 6 Air Squats, and 8 Sit-Ups, you have the remaining 20 seconds to rest until the next minute starts.
Score is the total number of repetitions completed before the 20-minute clock stops.
Scaling Options
Reduce the repetitions by half, and therefore extend your rest times for each minute.
Beginner
EMOM for 20 minutes
- 2 Burpees
- 3 Air Squats
- 4 Sit-Ups
WOD 9 – Mark Klement
74-44-11 Reps for Time
- Burpees
- Push-Ups
- Sit-Ups
- Air Squats
Perform 74 repetitions of each movement, then 44 reps of each movement, then 11 reps of each. Complete all 74 Burpees before moving to the 74 Push-Ups, etc.
Score is the time on the clock when the last round of air squats is completed.
WOD 10 – Will Lindsay
10 Rounds for Time
- 3 Devil Presses (2×55/35 lb)
- 22 Alternating Dumbbell Lunges (2×55/35 lb)
- 19 Air Squats
Wear a Weight Vest (20/14 lb)
With a running clock, as fast as possible (“For Time”) perform the prescribed work in the order written for 10 rounds. Wear a Weight Vest throughout the workout.
Score is the time on the clock when the last round of Air Squats is completed.
Air Squat WODs
If you enjoyed these Air Squat WODs then try these Flutter Kicks or Rowing WODs.
