The Summer Plan — your 8 weeks

How this works

3 + 2

3 workouts, 2 runs

Three short sessions a week (Session 3 goes outside), plus two optional runs on the couch-to-5K track. Any days that fit.

Your level

Scale every move

Every movement has a ladder — pick the level that's hard but tidy. The Movement Library shows you how, move by move.

Write it

Keep your score

Rounds + reps for an AMRAP, a time for a For Time. Your notes app is the whiteboard — 8 weeks of scores is how week 8 feels like a win.

Three rules, that's it. ① Done beats perfect — 15 rushed minutes while the kids destroy the paddling pool counts. ② Any version counts — every movement has an easier version; push-ups on the stairs are push-ups. ③ Never miss twice — miss a day, fine, life; just don't miss the next one. And if something properly hurts (not the normal works-hard burn), stop and scale it, or ask us for advice. Carrying an injury or health condition? We'll help where we can — or have a quick word with your GP to be sure.

Why it stays simple. We change the workouts week to week so it never goes stale — but we keep the moves basic on purpose. That's the whole trick: practise the fundamentals over and over and you get genuinely good at them, and a solid foundation is what all fitness is built on. Nail the basics here and you're not a beginner any more.

The warm-up

4 minutes, the same every session — habit beats novelty. If you're pushed for time, this is the one thing you don't skip.

1 min march on the spot (or 30 star jumps if you're feeling lively)
10 arm circles each way
10 leg swings each leg (hold the wall)
10 slow air squats
5 walkouts (hands walk out to a plank, walk back)

Done. Now find your level for today's movements and go.

The 8 weeks

CrossFit couplets, triplets and intervals — AMRAP = as many rounds as possible in the time · For Time = a fixed amount of work, as fast as you can with tidy reps · EMOM = every minute on the minute, do the work, rest the rest · Tabata = 8 rounds of 20s work / 10s rest. Session 3 each week is the "take it outside" one.

Week 1ease in, learn the shapes (~15 min work)

S1Practice

3 gentle rounds of:

6 push-ups (pick your version)
10 air squats
8 mountain climbers

Rest as long as you like between rounds. This is your chance to rehearse the movements — no timer today, just a starting point to get familiar.

Finish with 2 × 20s plank.

S2The Summer Test

AMRAP 8 — as many rounds as possible in 8 min:

6 push-ups (the version you chose)
12 air squats
12 mountain climbers

Steady effort, tidy reps — the score only means something if the movement looks the same in week 8.

Your baseline:

S3Outside

AMRAP 12:

10 walking lunges
10 sit-ups
45s march or gentle jog

Week 2meet the couplet (~16 min)

S1Intervals

4 rounds of:

12 air squats
8 push-ups

Rest 60s between rounds. Smooth, not frantic — each round should look like the first.

S2EMOM 12

EMOM 12:

Odd minutes — 10 step-ups (bottom stair is fine)
Even minutes — 30s plank

S3Outside

AMRAP 14:

8 burpees (step-back)
12 glute bridges
30s wall sit

Week 3a classic shape (~18 min)

S1For Time

21-15-9 for time:

air squats
push-ups

21 of each, then 15, then 9. As fast as you can, reps stay tidy — a race against the clock. Rest when you need, the clock keeps running. Write your time. (21-15-9 is the most famous rep scheme in CrossFit.)

Your time:

S2Tabata ×2

Tabata ×2 — 20s work / 10s rest:

First 8 rounds — mountain climbers
Second 8 rounds — dead bug or hollow hold

Dead bug/hollow: knees bent + hands by sides = easier; lower back glued to the floor. 1 min between the two blocks.

S3Outside

AMRAP 15:

10 reverse lunges
10 sit-ups
5 burpees
30s jog or march

Week 4halfway checkpoint

S1Mid-Summer Test

AMRAP 8 — the same test as week 1:

6 push-ups
12 air squats
12 mountain climbers

Beat your week-1 score by a rep or a round — either counts. Take a full rest day before this so the comparison is fair.

Finish with 3 × 40s plank.

Week 4 score:

S2Intervals

5 rounds — 40s work / 20s rest, through 3 stations:

reverse lunges
push-ups
superman

15 minutes total, no thinking required.

S3Travel

The Travel Session — AMRAP 12:

5 burpees
10 air squats
15 shoulder taps

For the week you're away — four metres of space is all it takes. Hotel room, campsite, gran's spare room. No excuses, no kit.

Week 5the backpack arrives (optional; volume stays put)

S1Intervals

5 rounds of:

10 backpack squats (or 15 air squats)
8 push-ups

Rest 60s between rounds.

S2EMOM 12

EMOM 12 — rotating through:

① 10 squats
② 8 push-ups
③ 10 sit-ups
④ 30s high knees

S3Outside

AMRAP 14:

10 side lunges each side
8 burpees
200m walk-jog (or 60s high knees if you're pinned to the garden)

Week 6one leg at a time (a touch lighter — saving up for week 7)

S1Rounds

4 rounds of:

8 reverse lunges each leg
10 push-ups (nudge the version up if you can)

Rest 45s between rounds.

S2Tabata ×2

Tabata ×2 — 20s work / 10s rest:

First 8 rounds — air squats / shoulder taps
Second 8 rounds — high knees / glute bridges

S3Outside

AMRAP 15:

5 broad jumps (or 10 fast squats)
10 push-ups
15 sit-ups

Week 7the big week (it should feel like you've earned week 8)

S1Quality

3 rounds — for quality, not time:

12 backpack squats
10 push-ups
12 single-leg glute bridges each side
40s plank

S2EMOM 14

EMOM 14 — rotating through:

fast air squats
push-ups
mountain climbers

S3The Long Garden

AMRAP 16:

10 lunges
10 burpees
40s wall sit
60s jog

The longest one in the plan. One go, honest effort, then be pleased with yourself. Space your runs away from this one.

Week 8prove it

S1Easy

Easy — 3 gentle rounds of:

10 squats
8 push-ups
30s plank

Then 10 minutes stretching anything that's been grumbling. You're saving it up.

S2The Summer Test

The final test — the same AMRAP 8:

6 push-ups
12 air squats
12 mountain climbers

Full rest day before it. Compare it to week 1 — that difference is yours, nobody gave it to you.

Week 8 score:

S3The Summer 5K

The run track's finale — or a family victory lap:

Do the Summer 5K below — or if running's not your track, one last AMRAP 8 with the family, everyone joins in:

5 burpees
10 squats
10 sit-ups

Movement library

The bit most free guides skip. Every movement has a ladder — find your level, own it, move up when you're ready.

The rule for every ladder: pick the level where the prescribed reps are hard but doable with tidy form. When you can do every set unbroken across a whole session, move up one level next time. Moving up a level IS progress — it counts exactly like adding weight in the gym.

Push-up

Wall push-up — hands on the wall, walk feet back till it's work.
Counter/table push-up — hands on the kitchen counter. Steeper = harder.
Stairs push-up — hands on the 3rd step, then the 2nd, then the 1st. A built-in ladder.
Knee push-up — floor, knees down, body straight hip-to-shoulder (bum down, not up).
Full push-up — chest touches the floor every rep. That's the standard; half-reps don't count in our gym and they don't count in your kitchen.
Feet-raised push-up — feet on the bottom stair. Now you're showing off. Good.

Cue for every level: hands under shoulders, body in one line, lower under control.

Air squat & loaded squat (backpack / goblet)

Sit-to-chair and stand
Squat to a light chair-touch
Full squat (hip crease below knee if your body allows, heels down)

Cues: chest up, knees track over toes, stand all the way up — every rep finishes tall. Loaded squat (backpack / goblet) = the same squat holding anything — a backpack worn or hugged to your chest, a water bottle, a big tin, a kettlebell, even a willing child. Hold it at your chest, or wear the bag.

Lunge / reverse lunge

Hold a wall or doorframe
Free-standing
Backpack on

Reverse (stepping back) is kinder to knees than stepping forward. If lunges argue with your knees anyway: step-ups on the bottom stair, same reps.

Burpee

Incline burpee (hands on a bench/step)
Step-back burpee (step out, step in, stand tall)
Full burpee with a jump

Jumping is optional at every level. Always.

Mountain climber

Hands on a bench (incline)
Floor, slow march
Floor, quick

Shoulders stay stacked over hands; bum stays low.

Step-up

Bottom stair
Two steps up
Three steps for a bigger challenge (a sturdy chair or garden bench works too)

Whole foot on the step, drive through the heel, stand tall at the top, alternate legs. Hold the rail or wall while you find your balance at the higher levels — then backpack on when even three feels easy.

Side lunge

Hold a wall or chair for balance
Free-standing, shallow
Free-standing, deeper — sit into the hip

Step wide to one side, sit into that hip, far leg stays straight; push back to standing. Both feet flat, pointing forward. The only sideways movement in the plan — worth doing well.

Wall sit

Shallow — knees only slightly bent (easier)
Halfway down
Thighs parallel to the floor, knees at 90°

Back flat against a wall, slide down till your knees bend, and hold. Higher = easier. Keep breathing — count it out loud if it helps.

Superman

Lift just your arms, or just your legs
Lift arms and legs a little way
Lift arms, chest and legs, hold a beat at the top

Face down, lift arms + chest + legs an inch off the floor, squeeze, lower slow. Balances out all the front-side core work — think "long," not "high."

Core — plank, shoulder taps, sit-up, dead bug, hollow hold

Plank / shoulder taps: knees-down plank → full plank → shoulder taps (feet wider = easier taps). One straight line, squeeze your bum, don't hold your breath.

Glute bridge / single-leg: floor, heels close to your bum, squeeze at the top for a full second. Single-leg = one foot in the air, hips stay level.

Sit-up / dead bug / hollow hold: dead bug if your back grumbles at sit-ups (opposite arm and leg lower slowly, lower back glued to the floor). Hollow hold: knees bent + hands by your sides = easier; the standard is lower back pressed into the floor throughout.

Broad jump: stand, swing, land soft with bent knees. Or 10 fast air squats if jumping isn't your thing (or the neighbours are out).

Every session has a score. These are the exact formats we run on the gym floor every day — you're not doing a watered-down version of CrossFit, you're doing CrossFit with the equipment you happen to have (which is you). Write it down; the notes app is your whiteboard.

Bonus track — Couch to 5K

Two runs a week, any days that fit — do them alongside the three workouts, or lean into the running instead if that's more your thing; both build real fitness. (A third easy walk is always good; pushchairs count.) Every run starts and ends with 5 minutes of brisk walking. "Jog" means conversational — if you can't speak a sentence, slow down. Nothing here is a sprint.

Week	Run 1	Run 2
1	6 × (1 min jog / 90s walk)	same again
2	6 × (90s jog / 90s walk)	same again
3	2 × (90s/90s) + 2 × (3 min jog / 2 min walk)	same again
4	3 × (4 min jog / 90s walk)	same again
5	2 × (5 min jog / 90s walk)	2 × (6 min jog / 2 min walk)
6	8 min jog · 3 min walk · 8 min jog	12 min continuous
7	18 min continuous	22 min continuous
8	22–25 min easy	The Summer 5K — 5k or 30 minutes, whichever comes first, somewhere beautiful. Walk breaks are fine — finishing is the win. Take a photo at the end; you'll want it.

Your Summer Test

The same 8 minutes — AMRAP 8: 6 push-ups · 12 air squats · 12 mountain climbers — three times. Write your rounds + reps each time. This is the number that turns "I think I'm fitter" into "I know I am."

When	Date	Rounds + reps	Push-up level
Week 1 · baseline
Week 4 · halfway
Week 8 · prove it

Screenshot this page or jot it in your notes app after each test. Send me your week-1 and week-8 numbers when you get there — I genuinely enjoy seeing the difference.

Stuck on anything?

A movement that doesn't feel right, a niggle you're not sure about, a week that fell apart, not sure which version to pick — message us and you'll get a real answer, fast. That's the point of getting the plan from an actual gym.

Message the coaches →

CrossFit Bodmin · Unit 2 Callywith Court, Bodmin, PL31 2RQ · crossfitbodmin.com
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