EMOM means Every Minute On the Minute. A new work interval starts at the beginning of each minute, you complete the assigned work, and then you rest for the time remaining of that minute. The next minute starts the next interval whether you are ready for it or not, so the clock decides when you go again and you decide only how fast the work gets done.
The clock builds the whole structure, because ten reps finished at 0:38 leave you 22 seconds before the next start and the same ten reps finished at 0:57 leave you three.
How an EMOM works
Take a 10-minute EMOM of:
Every minute for 10 minutes
- a5 push presses
Every minute hands you the same job and the same 60 seconds, so the only thing that changes across the workout is how much of that minute the five reps cost you.
| Clock | Required work | Rest window |
|---|---|---|
| 0:00 | 5 push presses | From final rep until 1:00 |
| 1:00 | 5 push presses | From final rep until 2:00 |
| 2:00 | 5 push presses | From final rep until 3:00 |
| … | Repeat | Repeat |
| 9:00 | Final 5 push presses | Workout ends after completion or at 10:00 |
The last interval starts at 9:00 and not at 10:00, which is a common mistake when you build the timer by hand. Count the starts instead of the clock reading, because a 10-minute EMOM is ten starts, the first at zero and the last at minute nine. An interval count that is one off is a different workout from the one on the whiteboard.
Common EMOM structures
Single-station EMOM: The same task comes back every minute, so the only variable in the whole workout is how much of the minute it costs you as you tire.
Alternating EMOM: The stations rotate through the minutes, so an EMOM 12 with three stations gives you four rounds at each one and a two-minute gap before that station comes back.
Odd/even EMOM: One task lands on the odd minutes and another on the even ones, which is the usual way to sit a heavy movement next to something you can recover on.
Build EMOM: The load or the reps climb as the clock runs, so the workout has to say in advance whether your score is the last interval you finished, the heaviest load you moved, or the total work.
Death by: The required reps go up every minute until you cannot finish them inside the minute. CrossFit's glossary does not list this one, so the written workout has to state whether it scores on the last successful round or on total reps.
How an EMOM is scored
An EMOM can be a training structure rather than a scored test, and when it is, completing every interval is the whole result. Settle which one you are running before the clock starts, because nobody scores a workout accurately from memory.
Possible scores include:
- Total successful intervals
- Total valid repetitions
- Load used across all successful intervals
- Heaviest successfully completed load
- Time remaining in each minute
Do not invent a score afterwards. If the point was interval completion, write down the intervals you missed and the scaling you used, because a rep total hides both.
Choosing the right amount of work
An EMOM needs room to repeat itself. If every interval eats 58 of the 60 seconds, the work is continuous in everything but name, and one slow transition or one dropped barbell can leave you behind for the rest of the workout.
Aim for a transition and recovery window you can repeat, and accept that no universal percentage fits every workout. Heavy barbell singles justify a few seconds of work against fifty of rest, and a rowing interval may be meant to fill most of the minute on purpose. The stimulus you are chasing sets the split.
For mixed movements, count the equipment transitions in your estimate, because five push presses beside a loaded rack are a different minute from five push presses after you cross the floor back from the box.
As a rule of thumb, if you have less than 20 seconds of rest on the first round, when you're the freshest, you are probably trying to fit too much work into each interval.
How to pace an EMOM
The minute is the constraint, so the question is never how fast you finish minute one, but whether you can still complete the work in minute eight.
- Use a movement cadence you can repeat, and choose it in minute one rather than minute five.
- Aim for a pace you can sustain for the duration of the workout. Even if you finish the work faster on the first round and have more time to rest, a higher pace might cause your following rounds to fall apart.
- Write down where in the minute your early sets finish.
- Watch the rest window shrink, because that trend is what predicts the first miss.
- When you're reaching your limits and rest time is running out, consider taking the first few seconds of the next minute to extend the rest. You'll be eating into the next interval, but that extra rest can squeeze a couple of extra rounds into the workout.
Key number
Keep an eye on how the resting time decreases over the rounds. It should be a steady decline that still leaves you time to complete the last round
- 0:25
- First round
- 0:42
- 5th round
A set that takes 25 seconds early and 42 seconds halfway through tells you fatigue is already affecting the workout. A few more rounds and the rest time will be completely gone.
EMOM vs. AMRAP
An AMRAP gives you one continuous window and lets you choose when to work and when to rest, but an EMOM gives you a fresh deadline every sixty seconds. The same total duration therefore produces two different workouts, and two different kinds of stimulus.
| Format | Work starts | Rest | Typical score |
|---|---|---|---|
| EMOM | At fixed minute marks | Remainder of each minute | Completion, reps, or load |
| AMRAP | At 0:00, then continuously | You choose when | Rounds + reps |
What to record after an EMOM
Record enough that the session still means something the next time you run it:
- Interval length and how many intervals
- The movement and the reps in each minute
- Loads, heights, and distances
- Intervals completed and intervals missed
- Where in the minute your early sets finished
- Rx, scaled, or modified version
An interval count on its own is weak data, because 10 tells you nothing in three months if you cannot say whether it was ten minutes of five push presses at 40 kg or ten minutes of three at 60 kg.
Frequently asked questions
What happens if the work is not finished within the minute?
It depends on the written workout. Some EMOMs stop at the first failure, others carry you into the next minute and record the miss, and a death-by workout ends there by definition. Settle that rule before the clock starts, because you cannot make that call fairly while you are gasping for air.
Does an EMOM include rest?
Yes, and the rest is most of the point, because it is the time that sits between your last required rep and the next minute mark. A set that fills the whole minute leaves you none of it, which usually means the load or the rep count is wrong for the interval.
How many rounds are in a 20-minute alternating EMOM?
Ten of each with two stations, and five of each with four. Divide the total minutes by the number of stations, and if that division is not clean the workout has to say which station takes the extra minute.
Download EVERGROUND
Set the interval once, then stop counting minutes.
Everground builds the interval grid from the cap you set, beeps at the halfway mark and counts you into every new minute, and saves the intervals you completed, so ten stays ten in your log.