Partner workouts can be a very powerful tool within a coaches toolbox for increasing work output, motivation and incredible for team building.  These types of workouts are not for the weak of heart and separates winners from losers. 

You, as a coach, will quickly find out what your athletes are made of and who is willing to push themselves under extreme states of fatigue and who won't give in when tasks (exercises) become difficult.  You will also find out who will be leaders and motivators instead of phonies.

We perform a circuits that we refer to as a "Jailhouse Circuit", which describes the method of how we perform a particular training session.  We will typically perform 6 exercises in an I Go/You Go alternating fashion.  The athletes will perform 3 consecutive sets of one exercise for 30 seconds of work before moving onto the next exercise.  Each athlete gets 60 sec rest between sets, meaning that there are only 15 seconds for partners to switch. 

If an athlete starts their set late or finishes before 30 sec, everybody (on the team) will repeat the exercise again, so an athlete may have to perform up to 60 sec continuous work of a given exercise. This can be extremely grueling as lactic acid build up increases throughout the training session.  The goal of the workout is volume and increases work capacity and hypertrophy through the repetition method of training.

Here is a sample upper body training session that I have prescribed:
A. Parallel Grip Pullups
B. Bench Press
C. DB Incline Row
D. DB Shoulder Press
E. Inverted Row
F. Close Grip Pushups

Here is a total body session that I have prescribed:
A. Parallel Grip Pullups
B. KB Goblet Squat
C. Bench Press
D. DB Incline Row
E. KB Swings
F. DB Close Grip Pushups

We follow this up with a manual resistance circuit. Our athletes love it because it's difficult and you get to find out who is willing to work and push themselves through their typical comfort zone and can become comfortable while being uncomfortable. Try it out for yourselves and find out whether you will give in or give more.