There’s a time and place for chasing numbers under a barbell. But there’s also a lot to be said for stripping things back, chasing a brutal pump, and wringing every last rep out of your own bodyweight.
Whether you’re stuck in a hotel room, training between meetings, or just don't fancy the gym floor, this is your no-excuses option for lighting up your chest, shoulders and triceps in just 20 minutes.
The protocol is simple, but if you find it easy you're doing it wrong. Set a 20-minute countdown timer and work through the following giant set, accumulating as many quality rounds as possible. The aim isn’t to sprint through sloppy reps – it’s to keep tension high, control every rep, and only rest when your form starts to drop off. Record your total reps and treat it like a score to beat next time.
The Workout
20-minute AMRAP (as many rounds as possible)
5 x Feet-Elevated Push-Up
Elevate your feet on a box, bench or sofa and assume a strong plank position. Lower your chest under control, elbows at roughly 45 degrees, before pressing back up powerfully.
10 x Push-Up
Straight into standard push-ups. Keep your body rigid, glutes and abs locked in, and lower until your chest touches the ground on each rep. Keep these smooth and consistent, not rushed.
What to read next
15 x Hands-Elevated Push-Up
Next lift your hands onto your box or bench. This reduces the load slightly, allowing you to push deeper into fatigue while still getting a full range of motion. Focus on a strong stretch at the bottom and keep it explosive on the way back up.
Max Reps x Tricep Dips
Finish each round with a max effort of tricep searing dips on your bench, box or couch. Keep your chest tall, shoulders down, and bend at the elbows to lower under control. Pump out as many clean reps as possible – then a few more less than clean ones, just fot good measure – this is your finisher on each round, so expect it to burn.
With almost 18 years in the health and fitness space as a personal trainer, nutritionist, breath coach and writer, Andrew has spent nearly half of his life exploring how to help people improve their bodies and minds.
As our fitness editor he prides himself on keeping Men’s Health at the forefront of reliable, relatable and credible fitness information, whether that’s through writing and testing thousands of workouts each year, taking deep dives into the science behind muscle building and fat loss or exploring the psychology of performance and recovery.
Whilst constantly updating his knowledge base with seminars and courses, Andrew is a lover of the practical as much as the theory and regularly puts his training to the test tackling everything from Crossfit and strongman competitions, to ultra marathons, to multiple 24 hour workout stints and (extremely unofficial) world record attempts.
You can find Andrew on Instagram at @theandrew.tracey, or simply hold up a sign for ‘free pizza’ and wait for him to appear.
