Mat Fraser’s Advice On How To Train When Tight For Time

Getting training in around other commitments can be a challenge for a lot of athletes. Finding the time to hit the gym as well as juggling things like work and child care can be demanding.

Life doesn’t always go to plan, so setting up ways to minimise the total duration of a session is sometimes a necessity.

And for those days when motivation doesn’t come so easily, heading out for a short, sharp workout is much better than doing no training at all.

To assist athletes in setting up a workout when they are tight for time, CrossFit champion Mat Fraser told Men’s Health  "I've been in this situation a lot, where from getting to the gym to leaving, you have 30 minutes or 40 minutes. For those ones, I'd say the easiest suggestion is setting up an EMOM, a workout that's every minute, on the minute.

“Set up two stations, three stations, four stations - whatever you want - and the reason I suggest that, is that it's a defined period of time. If you get in the gym and think 'I need to be out the door in 30 minutes', set up a 24 or 25-minute EMOM. You have two minutes to set-up and you have two minutes to tear down.

"You can use the first round as a warm-up. I do a tonne of 40-minute EMOMs. It's a huge part of [my] training, I do them once, if not twice, a week. They are gruelling.

“When I'm tight on time, I'll do the first four stations - the first four minutes - slow, and not at my desired output. I'll get familiar with the movement, get my body warmed up and then the next 36 minutes, I'm hammering away.

“The big thing it's that it's a defined ending. I always set up the 40-minute EMOMs and try to aim for 40 seconds of work."

So next time you’re checking your watch at the gym, give and EMOM a try.