Tabata, EMOM, AMRAP: training formats explained
A coach writes “EMOM 10” on the whiteboard and half the room nods. If you are in the other half, this post is for you: eight common ways to put a workout together, what each one means, who it tends to suit, and one concrete example of each.
Intervals with rest
The simplest format there is: work for a set time, rest for a set time, and repeat. The clock decides when you start and when you stop, so you never have to count.
Who it suits: almost anyone, from a first circuit class to a runner’s track session.
Example: three rounds of 40 seconds of burpees, 20 seconds of rest, 40 seconds of mountain climbers and 20 seconds of rest.
Tabata
Tabata is one particular interval: 20 seconds of work and 10 seconds of rest, eight times over, which takes four minutes. It carries the name of Izumi Tabata, a professor at Ritsumeikan University. In 1990 he became a coach of the national speed skating team and adapted an interval workout used by its head coach, Koichi Irisawa (Ritsumeikan University).
His 1996 study put it on a stationary bike: seven volunteers did seven to eight sets of 20 seconds at about 170% of their VO2max, the most oxygen their bodies could use, with 10 seconds of rest between them, five days a week for six weeks (Tabata et al., 1996). That is an all-out effort. When a class calls four minutes of squats “a Tabata”, it borrows the clock; how hard you go is up to you.
Who it suits: anyone who wants a short block that is meant to be very hard, often as a finisher at the end of a session.
Example: eight rounds of 20 seconds of burpees and 10 seconds of rest.
EMOM: every minute on the minute
At the start of every minute you do a set number of reps; whatever is left of that minute is your rest (Frontiers in Physiology). The faster you move, the longer you rest, and then the next minute starts whether you are ready or not.
Who it suits: people who like a steady rhythm, and coaches who want a whole group to work to the same clock even when they move at different speeds.
Example: EMOM 10: ten kettlebell swings at the top of every minute, for ten minutes.
AMRAP: as many rounds as possible
You get a list of exercises and a time limit, and you go through the list again and again until the time is up. Your score is the number of rounds, and next time you try to beat it. The study linked above describes AMRAPs of 10 to 20 minutes.
Who it suits: anyone who likes a number to beat, and groups of mixed ability: everybody stops at the same time, however many rounds they managed.
Example: six minutes of 10 push-ups, 15 air squats and 20 sit-ups.
For Time
The opposite of an AMRAP: the work is fixed and the clock is the score. You do the whole list as fast as you can. A time cap keeps it from dragging on: when the clock reaches it, you stop where you are.
Who it suits: athletes who like racing the clock, and anyone who wants to repeat a workout weeks later and see the time drop.
Example: 30 burpees, then 20 box jumps, with a five-minute cap.
Sets and reps
The gym classic. “Five sets of five” means five repetitions, a rest, and that five times over. Reps can change from set to set: 12, 10 and 8 as the weight goes up is a simple pyramid. Here the clock only times the rest, because a set takes as long as it takes.
Who it suits: anyone lifting weights, from a first strength plan to a powerlifter’s programme.
Example: five sets of five back squats at 80 kg, with two minutes of rest between sets.
Supersets
Two exercises done back to back without resting in between (NASM), then a rest after the pair, and the pair again. The pair can be, for example, a push and a pull.
Who it suits: strength athletes who want the same sets with fewer rests in between.
Example: bench press for 12, 10 and 8 reps, straight into 8 pull-ups, then 90 seconds of rest; three times.
Hangboard repeaters
A climbing format. You hang from an edge on a hangboard for a few seconds, let go for a few seconds, and repeat that several times: that is one set. Commonly used timings are 7 seconds on and 3 seconds off, or 10 seconds on and 5 off (TrainingBeta). Then a longer rest, and the next set.
Who it suits: climbers training their fingers. If you are new to hangboarding, ask a coach how much load to use before you add any.
Example: six hangs of 7 seconds with 3 seconds off, five sets, three minutes between sets, on a 20 mm edge in a half crimp. (The example plan below adds 5 kg; that is a number for your coach to set, not a starting point.)
Where Sestava comes in
Sestava runs every format on this list from a plan. Intervals, Tabata and EMOM are timed exercises with rest and rounds, so they need no special mode: an EMOM is a one-minute interval with the reps written on it. For sets and reps you tap Done Set and the rest timer starts on its own. Supersets, AMRAP and For Time have section types of their own, and hangboard repeaters have their own kind of step: an AMRAP has a +1 Round button to count your rounds, and a For Time section keeps your time against the cap.
Want to try one? These links open in Sestava on an iPhone, or show the plan in your browser:
- Tabata Blast: the Tabata example above.
- Gym Mix: the superset, the AMRAP and the For Time examples in one session.
- Hangboard Repeaters: the repeaters above, plus a forearm stretch.
Coaches can build their own in Sestava Studio, free in the browser, or read how a plan is written in the plan format.
Cover photo by Veri Ivanova on Unsplash.