3 Reasons to Include ‘EMOM’ in Your Workouts
Learn how to do “Every Minute on the Minute”—aka EMOM—and get some sample workouts.
Ben Greenfield
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3 Reasons to Include ‘EMOM’ in Your Workouts
Lately, I’ve been experimenting with a training protocol called EMOM. And no, EMOM is not some kind of fancy, newfangled electronic mothering service. It’s simply an acronym for the phrase “Every Minute on the Minute,” which is a style of training in which you complete a specific set of movements or exercises every minute, then you rest until the end of the minute, starting again at the top of the next minute. If your goal is to develop cardiovascular or muscular endurance, and to squeeze as much structured work as possible into as little time as possible, then EMOM training is a great strategy to know and use.
In this article, you’ll learn how to do EMOM, get some sample EMOM workouts, and learn about three different reasons you should include EMOM in your workout routine.
How to Do EMOM
Typically, because it is so physically demanding, an EMOM workout will last from 10-30 minutes in length and is performed with a somewhat heavy weight that only allows you to complete three to five reps per minute. So, for example, for a 10-minute EMOM workout, you would do 10 rounds of five reps of a movement such as a barbell squat. If the amount of time that it takes you to do five reps is 45 seconds, then that gives you 15 seconds of rest before the top of the minute, at which point you would begin the next set.
You can also do EMOM training using a cardiovascular-based exercise. This is a practice that has been used among swimmers for a long time (e.g., swim 50 meters, leaving every 60 seconds), but can also be used for rowing sets (e.g., row 100 meters as hard as possible, starting a new 100 meter set every 60 seconds) or running (e.g., run 200 meters on a track as fast as possible, then recover to 60 second mark).
Here are a few other examples of EMOM training:
-10 burpees per minute for 15 minutes
-5 pull ups or pull downs per minute for 20 minutes
-3 push ups + 2 pull ups + 3 body weight squats per minute for 30 minutes (yes, you can use a combination of different moves!)
-5 deadlifts using 1.5x your body weight per minute for 10 minutes
-8 alternating jump lunges per minute for 10 minutes
If your goal is to develop cardiovascular endurance, you should (as you can probably guess) use exercises or modes of exercise that involve body weight, lower weights and more repetitions. But if your focus is muscular endurance, then you should use lower reps and heavier weights, choosing exercises such as squats and deadlifts. Generally, if you’re just getting started with EMOM, you should start with easier exercises, a lower number of reps or less weight than you think you can handle, because (just like a Tabata set), the father you get into the workout, the more tired you will become and the more difficult it will be to maintain good form.
The Benefits of EMOM
So, what are the benefits of EMOM training? There are four primary reasons you should consider adding this strategy to your workout routine …
Why do EMOMs?
The first reason to include EMOM is, as I alluded to earlier, time efficiency.
Because you’re “racing the clock” in an EMOM workout, you won’t have time to simply sit down and recover between sets. You have to keep working the whole time, and because of this, you can get all of the benefits of a regular weightlifting session, but in much less time (albeit with a bit more burn and discomfort!).
The second reason to include EMOMs is to simply squeeze more high-quality volume into less time. For example, in many workouts, especially Crossfit workouts, the goal is to do an AMRAP (as many rounds as possible) in X period of time, such as twenty minutes. Often, this requires you simply bounce from exercise to exercise as quickly as possible. But with EMOM, you simply do your recommended number of reps, then recover until the next minute comes around, and with this strategy, you’ll find you can maintain high quality mechanics throughout the set, even when lifting heavy weights and low reps.
The third reason to use EMOM is because of the motivation to get more of a muscle and cardiovascular endurance training effect. Even if you’re doing five reps of squats (not traditionally considered an exercise or number of reps that would be used to enhanced endurance compared to running, rowing, swimming or cycling), you’re still going to get only a minimal amount of rest between those squat sets—less rest than you’d probably give yourself naturally if you weren’t doing an EMOM. But because you’re motivated by the clock, you’ll jump back into the next set, even if it’s tough. Don’t get me wrong: the goal is not for you to sacrifice form at all costs to squeeze in all your squat reps, but at the same time, you’ll find that with an EMOM, you’re often able to both maintain proper biomechanics and work your heart, lungs and lactic-acid buildup quite significantly.
If you have more questions or comments about how to use EMOM, then head over to https://www.Facebook.com/GetFitGuy and join the conversation there! I’d love to hear what you have to say.