A few months ago, a friend and colleague of mine saw me warming up, (foam rolling, lacrosse ball to the foot, and some banded stretching) and asked me what I was up to. I told him, "A little this, a little that. Just wanted to do some deadlifts and some pull-ups and then whatever else happens, is a bonus." His response? "EMOM it." Not being from the Crossfit world, I had no idea what he was talking about but he laid it out for me.
Every Minute On the Minute, perform an exercise.
He suggested I pick 2 or 3 exercises and run through them as follows:
Trap bar deadlifts for 7 reps, picking weight around 70-80% 1 rep max)
Knee tucks for 15 reps
Pull-ups with body weight for 7 reps
Start the clock and perform the first exercise. It should take you about 30 seconds or so. Make your way over to the next exercise and once the clock says 1:00 minute, start exercise number 2. At minute 2:00, perform the 3rd exercise. That's round 1 of 7 and you just repeat the 3 exercises on the minute for each round. The whole routine will last 21 minutes total. Sounds simple, right?
QUICK LOOK: EMOM WORKOUT: Rounds 1 - 3
Around minute 12, I was dying. Still getting the reps on deadlifts, but my pull-ups and knee tucks were shot, not to mention that my lungs were spent. On the final round, I was so ready for it to be over. I started with my deadlifts, trying to get to my required 7 and my friend gives me the pep talk of, "You've done 6 rounds of 7 reps, if you get 8 on this last set, that makes 50. 50 sounds way better than 49." Damn him... I got the 50th rep, drudged through the knee tucks and pull-ups and proceeded to lay on the floor for about 15 minutes to recover.
COOL THINGS HAPPEN WHEN YOU'RE LAYING ON THE FLOOR
My body stopped working after the workout that day but my mind came to some cool conclusions:
I just banged out 50 reps of a heavy load on deadlifts. Yeah buddy!
High volume on accessory work? Yessir!
Completed some insane metabolic conditioning? Check!
All in 21 minutes? You betcha'!
Since then I've played around with different versions of EMOM, from picking 1 to 5 exercises and varying how many rounds I complete. Depending on time and desired volume, you can choose whatever rep schemes work for you. I personally stick to 3-8 reps for heavy loads and 8-20 reps for core and stability exercises. Listed below are merely suggestions that I've personally played around with. The fun part is that sometimes you only have 25 minutes to get a lift in, and this simplifies your programming.
1 exercise for 5-10 rounds
Medicine ball slams or tosses, and anything metabolic that takes about 30 seconds to complete
2 exercises for 5-10 rounds
Compound movement (deadlifts, squat, vertical/horizontal push/pull)
An accessory movement (think core or stability movement)
3 exercises for 5-10 rounds
1 compound movement
1 core, shoulder stability or metabolic movement
1 compound movement separate from the first
4 exercises for 3-7 rounds
Compound movement
Core or metabolic movement
Compound movement
Core, shoulder stability or metabolic movement
5 exercises for 3-6 rounds
Compound movement
Core or metabolic movement
Compound movement
Shoulder stability or metabolic movement
Compound movement
Be creative, sometimes you will bite off more that you can chew (think deadlift, medball side tosses, squats, hollowed out holds, and split squat lunges) and other times you will surprise yourself by how easy the circuit was. Try some of this stuff and drop me a line on Facebook or Instagram to share what works and what needs a little tweaking.
ABOUT COACH MATT PIPPIN
Matt is a Strength and Mobility Coach with over 15 years experience in his field and has coached over a thousand professional, collegiate and everyday athletes with the goal to help them move, feel and perform at their highest level. He's incredibly passionate about bringing simple and effective online mobility training programs to everyone who wants to take control of their self care and make lasting change. CLICK HERE to learn more.
Certifications:
NSCA Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist
Level 3: Fascial Stretch Specialist
Level 1: Institute of Motion Health Coach
Certified FRC Mobility Specialist (FRCms)
Level 1 Kinstretch Instructor
Weck Method Qualified