Mat Fraser has won the CrossFit Games more times than any other male athlete – five, to be exact. Given this is a competition to find the ‘fittest on earth’, many have dubbed him ‘the fittest man in history’.
But despite the impressive physical feats he’s capable of, from handstand walking to heaving 170kg over his head, his go-to workout has surprisingly wide appeal. Having tried it for the first time a few years ago, I genuinely believe it has something to offer all comers, and it’s now a regular fixture in my training plans.
The workout is a 40-minute EMOM – an acronym that stands for every minute, on the minute. Each minute, you do a set number of repetitions of a specified exercise, then rest for the remainder of the 60 seconds. There are four different exercises, and you should take it in turns to do each one.
The length can be shortened, as can the movements you include, weights you use and number of reps you do, allowing the workout to be scaled to suit any fitness level. But however you scale it, there should be a few common denominators.
“There’s a guarantee that you’re going to be sweating, breathing hard and challenging yourself, no matter what you do,” Fraser says in a recent video for his online coaching company, Hard Work Pays Off.
How to do Mat Fraser’s ‘secret workout’
Set a 40-minute timer and complete 10 rounds of the following:
- Minute one: Fan bike (or exercise bike) x14cal
- Minute two: Double-under (skipping where the rope passes under your feet twice with each jump) x60
- Minute three: Shuttle run (25ft there and 25ft back) x8
- Minute four: Dumbbell box step-over (22.5kg dumbbells) x8
An EMOM workout does exactly what it says on the tin. It challenges you to perform a prescribed amount of work within each minute, rest for whatever remains of the 60 seconds, then move on to the next exercise.
The general template of this workout is to have something cardio-based in minutes one and three, something gymnastic or skills-focussed in minute two, and some heavy lifting in minute four.
Fraser says he usually tries to finish each minute’s work within 40 seconds, giving him time to transition to the next exercise. For the heavier fourth exercise, he likes to wrap things up within 20 seconds “so I have some time to catch my breath, grab a sip of water and towel off before getting back on the bike”.
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How to scale this workout to suit any fitness level
There are a lot of variables at play here, and each one can be changed to suit your individual needs.
Time: If you don’t have 40 minutes available, or struggle to complete the workout above in full, you can adjust the length of the session to any multiple of four. A minimum of 16 minutes is ideal but, if the exercises are challenging, this format will still deliver perks in half that time.
Reps: Adjust the target number of reps in each round to one that you can complete within 40 seconds (or 20 seconds, for the fourth exercise). This should not feel easy, nor should it be an all out effort during the early rounds. Instead, it should feel challenging yet achievable.
Weights: For the heavy exercise in particular, focus on finding a weight that is challenging, but still allows you to complete all prescribed reps with good form within roughly 20 seconds.
Exercises: If you can’t perform some of the exercises above, you can swap them for more accessible ones with a similar stimulus. For example, double-unders could be swapped for standard skips or pogo jumps, and dumbbell box step-overs could be replaced by box step-ups, then you can lower the height you’re stepping up to to further adjust the difficulty.
If you want to practice different exercises, you can also substitute them in – for example, a rowing machine for an exercise bike, dumbbell deadlifts instead of box step-overs, and pull-ups or burpees instead of double-unders.
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I tried Mat Fraser’s ‘secret workout’ – here’s how it went
As a fitness writer, my mission is to help readers find fun, interesting and effective ways to get (or stay) in shape. To do this, I’ll often assume the role of lab rat, taking things for a spin to see if they’re worth sharing. And of all the fitness tests I’ve tried, from running my first Hyrox race to training like an Olympian, this is among my favourites.
Why? Because it’s almost infinitely adaptable. You can change the exercises, reps, weights and duration to fit your fitness level, as detailed above, as well as the equipment you have available and your fitness goals.
Want to build muscle? Add five to 30 reps of a press, row, squat or deadlift at a challenging weight into one or two of the minutes. Looking to give your heart and lungs a good workout? Swap the heavy exercise for a bonus cardio-focussed one like a rowing machine or SkiErg.
For these reasons, I’ve incorporated 40-minute EMOMs into my training since I first found out about them a few years ago. So when Fraser shared a fresh one (above) via his online coaching company, Hard Work Pays Off, I was always going to give it a go.
I did make a few adjustments before diving in. Knowing I’m not as fit as Fraser, I scaled the fan bike back to 12 calories, and the double-unders to 50, then left the rest as written.
The set-up was a bit finicky, with four stations to prepare, but the workout itself started smoothly. For the first few rounds I was able to finish each exercise within the guideline 40-second time cap, and despite breathing hard, my body felt like it had plenty left in the tank.
It was when I reached round five that the workout became a different beast. My movements started to feel sluggish, my pace on the Assault Bike and shuttle runs plummeted, and during the box-step-overs the dumbbells suddenly felt significantly heavier than they had done 20 minutes prior. My calf muscles also started asking for a break from all the skipping.
Fraser, who retired from competing in 2021, seemed to have a similar experience: “The first three or four rounds don’t feel terrible, and then it just hits you. Your legs feel heavy.”
Worse than heavy legs, I knew I still had almost 50 per cent of the workout to go. “If I’m struggling now, how am I going to feel in 10 minutes’ time?”, my ever-helpful inner monologue pondered.
The next few rounds were a slog and there was an undeniable temptation to call it a day. But, as I entered round eight, the fog cleared and the end suddenly seemed within touching distance. Psychologically, this did me the world of good, and I knuckled down to finish the last three rounds without taking any shortcuts.
Benefits of a 40-minute EMOM
Moving consistently for 40 minutes is inevitably going to have health benefits. You’re raising your heart rate and breathing hard, elevating calorie burn and working on your cardiorespiratory fitness (aka, the ability of your heart and lungs to deliver ample oxygen to the working muscles).
But because of the 40-minute EMOM’s make-up, it can have sneaky bonus benefits too. If one of the elements is a gymnastic-based exercise, you can develop your skill, balance and coordination. If one of the elements involves lifting something heavy enough to present a challenge, you can develop strength.
Treating some stations as sprints may improve speed and power, and by the time you’ve done 10 rounds of an exercise it’s likely your muscular endurance will be tested as well.
In short: it’s an efficient way to train multiple facets of fitness at once. It may not be as effective as dedicating an hour to any one pursuit, such as strength, cardiovascular endurance or building muscle, but with only so many hours in a day it’s a savvy way to tick multiple boxes.
However, Fraser concocted this formula with the sole focus of improving his CrossFit performance. “I knew I could do pull-ups, I just couldn’t do them when I was breathing heavily,” he explains. “I didn’t feel like I could catch my breath or recover during them. So I started doing a 500m row and 25 pull-ups, 500m row, 25 pull-ups.”
“I noticed my technique was starting to fail by round three or four and the row was taking a long time, so I decided to chop it down so I could cycle it a little bit faster. I think it started with a 200m row and 10-15 pull-ups, going on the minute back and forth, and then I realised my muscular fatigue was starting to build up.”
“I wanted to put more time between those stations, so I added in another cardio station and another technical station.”
Completing 10 rounds allowed him to accumulate plenty of practise of reps, plus, he adds, “10 is a nice round number”. And that’s how the 40-minute EMOM was born.
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