EMOM Workouts

It’s January. And the gym is crowded.

Like super crowded.

And you want to get your workout in, despite the fact that there are four times as many people in the gym as normal.

For gym a veteran, it’s easy to get frustrated. I know. You know full well that 75% of these people will be gone in six weeks.

For beginners, it can be nerve wracking. You may not know exactly what to do, and you probably don’t feel as confident, especially with that veteran giving you the “eye” over in the corner.

Enter EMOM workouts.

EMOM stands for Every Minute On the Minute. And it’s exactly that. You pick an exercise, or a combination of exercises and you do a set amount of repetitions, every minute on the minute. The idea is that the workout itself builds in your rest periods.

Check out this EMOM for example:

It’s an 8 minute workout, consisting of two alternating exercises. The workout would look like this:

:00- 1:00 10 jump squats
1:00-2:00 5 push-ups
2:00- 3:00 10 jump squats
3:00-4:00 5 push-ups
4:00- 5:00 10 jump squats
5:00-6:00 5 push-ups
6:00- 7:00 10 jump squats
7:00-8:00 5 push-ups

So if it takes you 20 seconds to do 10 jump squats, you get a 40 second rest before your push-ups. If it takes you 15 seconds to do your push-ups, you get a 45 second rest before your next set of jump squats.

Make sense?

The cool thing about EMOM workouts, is that they are not only versatile (check out several options below), but they are very adjustable to workout levels. Not a beginner? Do the same EMOM above, but instead of 10 jump squats and 5 pushups, alternate between 20 jump squats and 15 push-ups. “Same” workout, but much more challenging (especially by the end). In fact, you can use EMOM workouts to track your progress by repeating them every so often and seeing your ability to increase reps.

For example, maybe you follow that beginner EMOM exactly as I set it out for you. The last sets of jump squats and push-ups were challenging, but you got them in.  Two weeks from now, you bump the reps to 15 and 10, and feel similar at the end of your workout. The last sets were a challenge, but you got them done. Right away, you can see how you’ve progressed because while you were the same amount of “tired” you actually completed 20 more reps of each exercise in the same amount of time.

Bam. Progress tracked (and it feels so good!)

I’ve created a couple of simple EMOM workouts to get you started, but the possibilities are endless. You can get as creative as you like when putting together an EMOM workout, but I like to keep them fairly simple. It’s easier to track that way. Especially as you push yourself to accomplish more and more (and let’s be honest, when you’re working hard you’re brain doesn’t like super complicated things anyway!)

They don’t take much space, and you can do them with little to no equipment if necessary. All you need is a timer, and the one on your phone works just fine. So give these a try. They’re perfect for January, or adding into your workout any time of year.

BONUS RESOURCES

Snow Day Workouts (Two bodyweight workouts with modifications!)
6 Cardio Workouts Under 30 Minutes
Give Planks (Plank Variations and modifications)
Bodyweight Workouts (Four more bodyweight workouts with modifications)