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If you’re stuck in a training rut and going to the gym is starting to feel like Groundhog Day, these 4 kettlebell emom workouts will reinvigorate your fitness regime.
Organised around functional kettlebell movements, each workout is designed to engage multiple muscle groups.
Furthermore, because your training rhythm is governed by the inexorable clock, you will have to maintain a high intensity to complete the workout.
Thus, these emom workouts will stimulate your cardiovascular system which will get your heart rate up.
emom meaning
EMOM, or every minute on the minute, is an abbreviation for a method of training where you perform a specific number of repetitions with inside a minute. Usually, the number of repetitions selected will take between 20- to 40-seconds to complete. This way you will be left with time to recover before the next minute.
However, as you will see, there are few fixed rules to emom training, mainly prescriptions, suggestions, and recommendations.
As you advance your emom fitness, you’ll begin developing the confidence to experiment with what is a bewilderingly versatile training methodology. The 4 kettlebell emom workouts below will get you going.
In addition, before you get into the workouts, you’ll find a few emom-related frequently asked questions. For those new to emom training, these questions will provide you with an outline of how to design your own workouts.
How do emom workouts work?
First things first, when designing an emom workout you need to decide what exercise, or exercises, you’re going to focus on. It’s not set in stone, but I find big compound exercises are more suited to emom training.
When you’ve settled on an exercise, you then need to determine weight and reps. Of course, the heavier the weight the lower the number of reps you’ll be able to perform. Remember, you don’t have to start your emom workout with a heavy weight. You can increase the weight as you progress through the workout (see #3: 30 min emom).
Another point of note when designing your emom workout. Try not to be overambitious when deciding on the per-minute rep count. If you set the reps too high you won’t have sufficient recovery time before the next minute starts. There’s nothing wrong with adjusting the reps throughout your emom workout.
Once you’ve settled on the exercise(s), weight, and reps, you then need to decide how many minutes you’re going to emom for. Again, this is not set in stone: you can set a 10-minute repeat countdown timer or, if you’ve got the fitness for it, a 60-minute countdown timer.
The 4 kettlebell emom workouts below range from 10 min to 40 min. By mixing the workout durations you have a range of training intensities and difficulties. In addition, with varying times you’ll have an emom workout for every occasion.
emom training benefits
There are lots of reported benefits to emom training. In our other article, EMOM Training | The Complete Guide, we have discussed these benefits at length. Instead of repeating ourselves (because this article is about training!), we have summarised some of those benefits below.
However, if you’d like to learn more, follow the link above.
So, what are emom good for?
Building strength
Burning fat
Improving muscle definition
Whole body conditioning
Developing stamina and muscle endurance
Maintaining training discipline
Reducing time wasted resting (or texting, posing, gassing, etc., etc.)
Best emom clock
Is it essential to have an emom clock? While emom clocks are certainly handy, because they come with specific countdown features, they are not essential. Any countdown timer or chronograph will suffice.
EMOM clocks are particularly useful because, whereas with a stopwatch, or countdown function on a mobile phone, you don’t have to reset the next minute manually. When the time elapses a buzzer sounds to signify the transition between each minute.
In addition, with an EMOM clock, such as Gymboss' Interval Timer below, you can pre-set the number of minutes you want to go for. So, if you’ve only got time for an emom10, you can set 10 minutes on your countdown timer and away you go.
Gymboss Interval Timer and Stopwatch
The Gymboss Interval Timer and Stopwatch is a small, easy-to-use, dual interval timer. You can time one or two intervals and repeat them 1-99 times, allowing you to time both your work and rest periods. This multi-use timer has many versatile functions that make it beneficial to virtually any type of exercise program and helps keep your workout on track.
4 Kettlebell EMOM Home Workouts
#1: 10 min emom
A nice simple workout to kick things off, here you will be completing 10 X 1-minute sets of kettlebell swings. There’s a little twist though.
Because this is a short emom workout the reps and intensity are both high. In addition, to prevent you from swinging ceaselessly, you must perform 5 burpees before the next set starts.
Yep, you read that right. After completing 15 kettlebell swings you’ve got to drop your bell and begin burpeeing.
To get those burpees in before the next minute begins, you’re going to have to swing as though your very life depends on it. Enjoy!
EMOM 1: 10 X 1-minute kettlebell swings (15reps) + 5 burpees
Total reps: 200
#2: 20 min emom
For 20 minutes you’re going to be fighting through a medley of kettlebell movements. Though this emom workout features an eclectic mix of exercises, it engages every muscle so far named by medical science.
So, though you might be feeling dazed and confused by the final minute, at least you’ll get a great whole-body workout.
However, this emom kettlebell workout is not completely mad: the method has been applied to the ordering of the exercises.
Split across 4 individual 5-minute emom workouts, the exercises target specific muscle groups in the following order: legs, core, back and shoulders.
EMOM 1: 5 x 1-minute kettlebell squats (aim for 15 reps)
EMOM 2: 5 x 1-minute under the leg pass (aim for 20 passes)
EMOM 3: 5 x 1-minute kettlebell single-arm pulls (aim for 8 reps on each arm)
EMOM 4: 5 x 1-minute kettlebell jerks (aim for 6 reps on each arm)
Total reps: 300
#3: 30 min emom
This is by far my most favourite emom workout. In a mere 30 minutes, every muscle is engaged and, if you’ve got it in you to increase the weight, your heart rate will be sent through the roof.
Deceptively simple on paper, this emom workout features only one exercise: the kettlebell clean to press. However, after 10 minutes you’ll be fighting to keep up with the countdown timer.
It makes it easier to think of this as 3 separate emom workouts. For the first 10-minutes, you’re going to focus on just the clean. For the second 10-minute block the focus shifts to the press.
Finally, over the last 10-minutes, you’ll piece the two movements together. Remember, you should complete all the reps on one arm before changing sides.
EMOM 1: 10 x 1-minute kettlebell cleans (aim for 6 reps on each arm)
EMOM 2: 10 x 1-minute kettlebell press (aim for 6 reps on each arm)
EMOM 3: 10 x 1-minute kettlebell clean to press (aim for 4 reps on each arm)
Total reps: 320
#4: 40 min emom
The fourth and final emom workout is a beast. And it breaks from convention. Whereas its predecessors maintained fixed reps counts, this emom workout makes use of ascending pyramids.
Let me just briefly explain how this works in a bit more detail.
Starting off with the first of four individual 10-minute emom pyramids, you are to perform 11 repetitions on the first minute. Then, you will increase the reps by 1 with each minute. See table below each emom workout.
EMOM 1: 10 x 1-minute kettlebell swings
EMOM 2: 10 x 1-minute goblet squats
EMOM 3: 10 x 1-minute kettlebell deadlift
EMOM 4: 10 x 1-minute kettlebell thruster
Total reps: 620!
Enjoyed these workouts? With the Hungry4Fitness Book of Circuits Vol 1 you can get your hands on 50 more!
Circuit training is one of the best forms of physical exercise for maintaining and increasing overall-fitness. A well designed circuit will provide a great cardiovascular workout, strengthening the heart and lungs in the process, whilst also improving muscle endurance and developing functional strength. This unique combination, of fat burning and muscle building, which singular exercises, such as running, cycling, swimming or weights cannot give, will help to sculpt a lean defined physique.
(As we are very interested in user experience here at Hungry4Fitness, we would be very grateful if you could take a few seconds out of your day to leave a comment. Thanks in advance!)
Blog Author
Adam Priest, former Royal Marines Commando, is a personal trainer, lecturer, boxing and Thai boxing enthusiast.
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