This 60-Minute CrossFit Workout Will Leave Every Muscle in Your Body Guessing

Monday through Friday, 5:45 a.m. to 6:45 a.m. used to be my time at the gym. I miss my hour-long workouts! Lately during the week, between balancing working from home and homeschooling my two kids, I’m lucky if I can carve out a 30-minute workout here and there. So when my CrossFit coach announced he was offering a Zoom “Power Hour” last Saturday, I almost slept with my dumbbells – I was so excited!

Jade Jenny, head CrossFit coach and owner of Champlain Valley CrossFit, called this “a true hopper-style workout,” meaning you don’t know what’s coming next. Hopper workouts involve a random mix of exercises in a random order, which keeps your mind and your muscles guessing, and because of that, it makes the workout both challenging and exciting.

Related: Build Strength and Endurance With This Heart-Pumping 30-Minute CrossFit HIIT Workout

For this 60-minute EMOM workout (every minute on the minute), Jenny chose eight basic CrossFit exercises that were either bodyweight (hello burpees and v-ups!) or dumbbell moves (squats and lunges). He wrote down numbers one through eight on pieces of paper, put them in a hat, and picked them out so he knew the random order of the workout before it started – but we didn’t! He’d call out the exercise right before the minute started, so we’d have to quickly get into position.

In order to not let things get too crazy with movement rotations, Jenny did 30 randomized draws, so we did each movement twice. And yes, sometimes the same exercise came up twice in a row, which meant four minutes of burpees or four minutes of v-ups!

This was the first time I’d done a hopper-style workout, and I loved the physical and mental challenge. It had been weeks since I’d worked out that long, and I was breathing hard and dripping with sweat by the end. I’m not going to lie – halfway through, I wanted to throw in the dumbbells and call it a day, but seeing over 50 of the other gym members pushing through on my screen motivated me to keep going.

I wrote down the order of this 60-minute workout so you can follow along at home. You’ll know what’s coming next, but the order is so random, your body and brain will still benefit from the variety of movements.

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“Power Hour” CrossFit EMOM Workout

Equipment needed: one pair of dumbbells (I used 15-pound dumbbells) and a jump rope if you have it (just pretend to jump rope if you don’t have one)

Directions: Before the workout, complete a five-minute dynamic warmup. This is a 60-minute workout, but do whatever you have time for, whether it’s 20, 30, or 40 minutes. There will be eight different exercises in this workout, completed in the specific (yet random) order listed in the chart ahead. Repeat each movement twice (so for two minutes) before moving on to the next exercise. For each exercise (not including the jump rope or air squats), choose a rep scheme that takes just under 45 seconds to complete, so you have a 15-second rest after each movement. Rep suggestions are listed below; beginners can do fewer reps and more advanced athletes can go for higher reps.

After the workout, make time for this 10-minute stretching routine. Read on for a rundown of the exercises you’ll be doing and directions on how to do each exercise.

• Exercise 1: Dumbbell squat: 10 to 15 reps
• Exercise 2: Dumbbell shoulder press: five to 10 reps
• Exercise 3: Single-arm dumbbell-overhead reverse lunge: 10 to 16 reps (five to eight reps per side)
• Exercise 4: Burpee dumbbell squat press: four to eight reps
• Exercise 5: Burpee: eight to 12 reps
• Exercise 6: Jump rope: 30 seconds
• Exercise 7: V-up: 10 to 20 reps
• Exercise 8: Air squat: 40 seconds

To be clear on how this workout is carried out, for minutes one and two, I did 14 single-arm dumbbell overhead reverse lunges. During the third and fourth minutes, I did 10 shoulder presses, and during the fifth and sixth minutes, I did five burpee dumbbell squat presses.

Related: This 35-Minute CrossFit Workout Wasn't Grueling Until After – I Was Sore For 3 Days!

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Dumbbell Squat

• Stand with your feet hip-distance apart, holding a dumbbell at each shoulder.
• Slowly bend your knees as if you were going to sit in a chair, keeping all the weight in your heels. Don’t let your knees move beyond your toes, and don’t let the knees roll out or in. Squat down as low as you can, keeping your head and chest lifted, your spine long, and your shoulders relaxed.
• Press through your heels, and slowly straighten your legs to stand up. Make sure to keep your spine neutral. Do not round your back. This counts as one rep.
• Do as many reps as you can with correct form for 45 seconds. Take a 15-second rest.

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Overhead Shoulder Press

• Hold a dumbbell in each hand just above your shoulders, palms facing in.
• Straighten your arms above you.
• Bend your elbows, coming back to the starting position to complete one rep.
• Do as many reps as you can for 45 seconds. Take a 15-second rest.

Getty / yoh4nn

Single-Arm Dumbbell Overhead Reverse Lunge

• Stand with your feet hip-distance apart, holding a medium-sized dumbbell in your right hand.
• Press the dumbbell overhead, locking your elbow.
• Step your right foot back into a reverse lunge position so both knees are at 90-degree angles, and your right knee just taps the floor.
• Step the right foot back to complete the rep.
• Complete as many reps as you can with correct form for 45 seconds. Take a 15-second rest.

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Burpee Squat Press

• Begin standing with a 10-pound dumbbell on each side of your body. If this is too heavy and you find that your form is incorrect, use lighter weights.
• Holding onto the dumbbells, lower down and perform a burpee. If this is too much pressure on your hands or wrists, you can set the dumbbells down in front of you for this part. If you’re a beginner, you can perform a modified burpee.
• With control, push your body off of the ground as you simultaneously pick up the dumbbells. Be sure to keep your core engaged and your spine in a neutral position when pushing yourself off the ground.
• Standing tall with your core engaged, bend your arms and hold the dumbbells on or slightly above your shoulders and lower down into a squat. As you stand up, push both dumbbells overhead.
• This counts as one rep.
• Complete many reps as you can with correct form for 45 seconds. Take a 15-second rest.

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Burpee

• Lower into a crouching squat with your hands on the floor.
• Do a squat thrust by jumping your feet back into a plank position.
• Do one basic push-up, bending the elbows and then straightening back to a plank.
• Jump the feet forward to the hands, and come into a squat.
• Do an explosive jump straight up, getting as much height as you can.
• Do as many burpees as you can in 45 seconds. Take a 15-second rest.

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Jump Rope

• Grab a regular or heavyweight jump rope and do 30 seconds of jumping rope.

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V-Up

• Lie on your back with your legs and arms extended above the floor.
• Lift your upper back off the floor, reaching your hands toward your feet with straight legs.
• This completes one rep.
• Do as many v-ups as you can in 45 seconds. Rest for 15 seconds.

POPSUGAR Photography / Kyle Hartman

Air Squat

• Stand with your feet slightly wider than your shoulders, feet parallel or toes slightly turned out.
• Bend your knees, lowering your hips deeply. Bring your thighs parallel to the floor and bend your elbows, keeping weight back in your heels.
• Rise back up, straightening your legs completely, squeezing your glutes at the top of the movement to get the most out of the exercise.
• This counts as one rep.
• Do as many squats as you can in 40 seconds. Rest for 20 seconds.