W-Press Ups

How to do it

Lie flat on your back and place your arms on the floor in a W shape — elbows bent and tucked close to your ribs, hands pointing upward. Brace your core to keep your lumbar spine neutral. Drive your elbows and the backs of your arms straight down into the floor to pop your chest up and elevate your upper back off the mat. Hold the top tension for one second before returning to the floor.

The coaching cue

"Pin your elbows to your ribs." Drive your triceps through the mat.

What changes inside an AMRAP

Avoid excessively arching your lower back to cheat the range of motion. If your hips pop off the floor, you are losing the isolation in your mid-back. Keep your neck relaxed and look straight up.

Common mistakes

• Arching the lower back until the hips leave the floor to fake extra range.
• Flaring the elbows away from the ribs and losing mid-back isolation.

Workouts that use w-press ups

• Reverse Flow

  5 minute AMRAP — 8 Broad Jumps (Turn and repeat), 10 W-Press Ups

• Flash Point

  5 minute AMRAP — 5 Burpees, 8 W-Press Ups, 10 Jump Squats

• Aero-Dorsal

  10 minute AMRAP — 30 High Knees (Total), 12 W-Press Ups, 20 Skater Jumps (Total)

• Dorsal Tow

  15 minute AMRAP — 8 Burpees, 12 W-Press Ups, 30 High Knees

• Shock Front

  15 minute AMRAP — 12 Combat Sprawls, 10 Diamond Push-ups, 12 W-Press Ups, 8 Broad Jumps

• Rhomboid Ruin

  5 minute AMRAP — 10 Back Widow, 15 Supermans, 10 W-Press Ups

• The Posterior Triad

  15 minute AMRAP — 12 Wide Push-ups, 12 W-Press Ups, 15 V-Ups

• Steady Traction

  10 minute AMRAP — 10 Combat Sprawls, 12 W-Press Ups, 30 Butt Kicks (Total)

• Endurance Tow

  15 minute AMRAP — 12 Down-Ups, 12 W-Press Ups, 30 Butt Kicks

• The Bowstring

  5 minute AMRAP — 10 V-Ups, 12 W-Press Ups

• The Truss

  10 minute AMRAP — 20s Plank Hold, 12 W-Press Ups, 15 Air Squats (Slow)

• The Steady Rower

  20 minute AMRAP — 10 Combat Sprawls, 12 W-Press Ups, 20 Glute Bridges, 30 Mountain Climbers

• Dorsal Barricade

  20 minute AMRAP — 20s Glute Bridge Hold, 12 W-Press Ups, 10 Diamond Push-ups, 30 Jumping Jacks

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