Bodyweight EMOM Training: 2 Workouts to Challenge Endurance and Mind

EMOM (Every Minute On the Minute) is a HIIT workout where rest is your reward: we give you 2 bodyweight workouts, one cardio and one strength, to test your limits in under 12 minutes.

• What is EMOM: It means “Every Minute On the Minute.” At the start of every minute, you perform a set of exercises.
• The Rest Rule: The time you have left before the next minute starts is your only rest.
• The Challenge: The slower you are, the less you rest. This forces you to be efficient and manage fatigue.
• Workout 1 (10 min): A Cardio & Core circuit alternating Burpees and Plank Jacks.
• Workout 2 (12 min): A Strength & Endurance circuit alternating Air Squats and Push-ups.
• Scalability: The workout adapts to you. Choose a rep count that leaves you at least 15-20 seconds of rest per minute.

Your Workout Against the Clock: Ready for a New EMOM Challenge?

Forget relaxed sessions. Forget long breaks spent staring at your smartphone. It’s time to face one of the most honest, ruthless, and effective training protocols that exist: the EMOM.

An EMOM isn’t a workout; it’s an appointment. You have a task to complete and an inflexible boss checking on you: the clock. At the start of every minute, it gives you an order. Your only mission is to execute it as quickly as possible, because the time you have left isn’t a gift; it’s the rest you just earned.

If you’re looking for a way to condense a huge amount of work into very little time, and test not just your muscles but especially your mind, you’re in the right place.

A Quick Refresher: What Is EMOM and Why It Forces You to Give Your All

The acronym stands for Every Minute On the Minute. The logic is simple:

1. You start a timer.
2. At the start of the minute (e.g., 00:00), you perform your set of exercises (e.g., 10 Burpees).
3. If you finish in 35 seconds, you have 25 seconds of rest.
4. At the start of the next minute (01:00), you perform the next set (e.g., 30 Plank Jacks).
5. If you finish in 40 seconds, you have 20 seconds of rest.
6. You continue this way until the total duration is up.

Why does it work? Because it forces you to make a choice: efficiency or suffering. If you drag, if you waste time, if fatigue slows you down, your rest time vanishes. And when the rest vanishes, fatigue accumulates exponentially. EMOM doesn’t just train your muscles; it trains your ability to work under pressure.

Workout 1: Cardio & Core EMOM (10 Minutes)

A classic 10-minute “burner.” Your goal is to keep your heart rate high and your core like steel.

• Total Duration: 10 minutes
• Even Minutes (0:00, 2:00, 4:00, 6:00, 8:00): 8-10 Burpees
• Odd Minutes (1:00, 3:00, 5:00, 7:00, 9:00): 30-40 Plank Jacks

Even Minutes: 8-10 Burpees

The king of bodyweight exercises. Start standing, drop to a plank, do a push-up (if you can), return to your feet, and do a small jump, clapping your hands overhead. Move smoothly, don’t waste energy.

Odd Minutes: 30-40 Plank Jacks

Get into a plank position, on your elbows or hands, with your core engaged. Keeping your back flat, open and close your legs with a small jump, like a horizontal jumping jack. Fast, rhythmic, and keep those abs tight!

Workout 2: Strength & Endurance EMOM (12 Minutes)

This workout tests your muscular endurance. Your heart rate will climb, but the real challenge will be in your legs and arms.

• Total Duration: 12 minutes
• Even Minutes (0:00, 2:00, 4:00, 6:00, 8:00, 10:00): 20-25 Air Squats
• Odd Minutes (1:00, 3:00, 5:00, 7:00, 9:00, 11:00): 10-15 Push-ups

Even Minutes: 20-25 Air Squats

Feet shoulder-width apart, chest up, lower down until your hips break parallel with your knees (“below parallel”). Push through your heels to return up. Maintain a steady, controlled rhythm. Don’t bounce.

Odd Minutes: 10-15 Push-ups

Hands under your shoulders, body straight as a board. Lower with control until your chest grazes the floor and push back up. If 10-15 is too many, there’s no shame: scale the exercise by dropping to your knees, but maintain perfect technique.

How to Choose the Right Reps (and How to Scale Them)

This is the crucial point. The goal of an EMOM not to finish the minute out of breath. The goal is to be consistent.

The golden rule: you should always have at least 15-20 seconds of rest.

If you choose 10 Burpees and it takes you 55 seconds, you’re doing it wrong. It’s no longer an EMOM; it’s a disguised AMRAP (As Many Reps As Possible), and you’ll hit a wall by the third minute.

• To scale (make it easier): Reduce the number of reps. Start with 7 Burpees instead of 10. Start with 15 Air Squats instead of 20. The goal is to finish the work in 30-40 seconds, to earn those 20-30 seconds of breath.
• To progress (make it harder): Increase the reps, but only if you can maintain the 15-20 second rest window.

The goal is consistency. It’s better to do 7 perfect Burpees every even minute than to do 12 on the first round and 3, crawling, on the last.

Keep Track of Your Rounds: The EMOM Is a Race Against Yourself

The EMOM is a mirror. It’s honest. You can’t lie to it. The clock tells you exactly how you’re managing fatigue.

Your opponent isn’t the workout; it’s you against that “beep” that marks the start of the minute. You have to learn to stay calm when your heart is pounding, to be efficient when your muscles are burning. You have to earn every second of rest. It’s as much a mental workout as a physical one. Now, set your timer.