Remember, you want to feel stimulated, not annihilated after your workouts!

I am currently rebuilding the foundations of my bent arm push + pull strength and the bent arm emom in the current program has been so perfect for this. But there are always mixed reviews when we do a push + pull EMOM (every minute on the minute). Maybe those people who aren’t loving it could consider the intensity they are setting for the workout.

Regardless of where you are currently at with your bent arm training, this workout is awesome if you know how to use the correct progressions/intensity so the workout supports your movement goals and your ability.

Despite the reps per set in the EMOM only being 5 (which is a nice low number), at 12-15 rounds there could have been anywhere between 60 and 75 reps of pushing and pulling, so it’s important to note that reps for the workout are high. Compare this to an AMRAP workout (as many rounds as possible) where we might do 8 rounds for 4 sets (just 32 reps).

So, the question is; with the reps for the workout already set, how can you adjust the workout to make it more suitable for your goals? Simple, we change the intensity.

Intensity is measured by perceived levels of exertion. During our emom you can change the intensity by changing the progression (ring row vs chin), change the timing (slow negative, hold at the top etc), or adding weight (with a weight belt).

If your goal is to do a chin up and you can currently do 1-2 banded chins, you can mix and match intensity by doing 1-2 banded chins and 3-4 ring rows per set. There may be a time during the workout where you can no longer do any banded chins, at this point you would switch to ring rows for the rest of the session. 

What you will notice is that as the 6 weeks tick over that point will move closer to the end of the workout or you may even get all the way to the end of a workout without needing to switch to ring rows. At this point, you can up the intensity again by doing 3 banded chins per round etc. 

I imagine if the same person were trying to do 5 banded chins for the whole workout they would feel absolutely annihilated. Remember, you want to feel stimulated, not annihilated after your workouts!

If you’re very new to movement and training it may not seem overwhelming and you might not know how to use intensity/progression changes in class to work toward your goals. If this is the case feel free to ask your teacher in class or flick me back and email and i would be glad to help you out!

Thanks 

Jeni Cooper 

The Movement Collective