EMOM, Tabata and Max Reps pushup workouts
Vishwen Labs
EMOM, every minute on the minute, sets a rep target at the top of each minute and gives you whatever is left of the minute to rest; Tabata is eight rounds of twenty seconds of reps and ten seconds off, four minutes in total; Max Reps is one set to failure, the test rather than the training. In Push Up Counter, EMOM runs for 1 to 30 minutes with a reps-per-minute target and defaults to ten minutes, Tabata runs 1 to 20 rounds at 20 on and 10 off with eight by default, and Max Reps ends when you stop. All three are Pro; the Sets mode, any number of sets with a rest timer, is free.
EMOM: strength endurance with built-in rest
Pick a rep count you can do with good form in about twenty seconds, say eight, and do it at the start of every minute for ten minutes: eighty reps, with thirty to forty seconds of rest each round. The structure keeps every set fresh, so the reps stay deep and the hips stay up, and it scales cleanly: add a rep per minute when the last rounds stop feeling hard, or add minutes. In the app, set the target reps per minute and the duration, and the counter tells you when the minute's reps are done and when the next minute starts. EMOM is the best of the three for building the total volume the daily-goal guide talks about.
Tabata: four minutes at full effort
Tabata is the short, hard one: 20 seconds of as many reps as you can, 10 seconds off, eight times, four minutes in all. It is conditioning rather than strength, and it is honest in a way long sets are not, since the clock does the counting of time and the camera does the counting of reps. Expect the round counts to fall, from twelve to six is normal, and expect the form score to fall with them; that is the point of the format, and the reason not to do it every day. The app runs the rounds with the 20/10 timing and lets you set 1 to 20 rounds, with eight as the standard.
Max Reps: the test
One set, no target, until you cannot do another clean rep. It is a measurement, not a workout, and it belongs every two to four weeks rather than every session; the max-test guide has the protocol. In the app the set ends when you stop and rest, the results screen compares it with your personal best, and a new best is recorded with the date on the Progress tab. Because the counter only counts full-range reps, the number is one you can compare across months.
Sets: the one that is free
Sets is the classic and the one most people should live in: choose the sets, the reps and the rest, 3 × 10 with 60 seconds by default, up to 20 sets of 200 reps with 10 to 300 seconds between, and the app counts each set, runs the rest timer, and shows the set breakdown at the end. It is free without limit. The three Pro modes are variations on it for people who want the clock to run the session; the strength comes from the reps either way.
A week that uses all four
For someone who can do 20 or so in a row:
- Monday: Sets, 4 × 12 with 90 seconds of rest.
- Wednesday: EMOM, 8 reps a minute for 10 minutes.
- Friday: Sets, 3 × 15, then one Tabata if there is anything left.
- Every third or fourth week, replace Friday with a Max Reps test after a day off.
Questions people also ask
How many reps per minute for a pushup EMOM?
A number you can finish in about twenty seconds with good form, which leaves the rest of the minute to recover. For most people that is a third to a half of their max: eight a minute for someone with a max around twenty, fifteen for someone around forty.
Is Tabata pushups good for building muscle?
It builds conditioning and work capacity more than size or strength; four minutes at full effort is not enough volume for muscle on its own. Use it once or twice a week on top of sets, not instead of them.
