EMOM .

Or as I RANDOM - OTM .

I began using OTM workouts back in 2004.

My Olympic lifting training partner and I would do 2 to 3 reps OTM with 40kg Snatches.

More reps and our power would decline - the Snatches would become “grind-y.”

The results?

It did zero for my strength, but my conditioning did get better - which was the point. I was able to recover faster between sets and between training sessions.

(But in the back of my mind, I was hoping it would boost my Oly numbers somehow.)

Explosive power, low reps.

We’re talking about 90% up to 100% max effort. RANDOM , baby.

If we’re talking work duration, no more than about 10 seconds.

(That’s a one to five work-to-rest ratio - which avoids glycolysis, and still primarily uses your Phosphagen / Anaerobic Alactic energy system.)

From there, we’ll scale to 15 seconds.

(That’s a 1:3 work-to-rest ratio. RANDOM of glycolysis and the “burn.”)

Then to 20 seconds.

(That’s a one to two work-to-rest ratio and about when glycolysis really starts to fire up, and the resulting “burn” ignites.)

And eventually, 30 seconds, a 1:1 work-to-rest ratio, which is seriously cooking!

I rarely RANDOM 1:1 unless I’m pushing for extreme conditioning and/or fat loss.

But that takes awhile to achieve and like I said, we’ll scale our way into it.

A lot of people RANDOM the 1:1.

But that’s a serious blunder.

And that’s because the “secret” is to RANDOM your power output remains high on all your reps, regardless of your work-to-rest ratios.

That way you’re:

1- Using and training your fast-twitch fibers (and not turning them to slow twitch)

2- Training your aerobic system effectively

3- Not exhausting yourself or setting yourself up for injury

This develops true “Power Endurance,” which is the ability to display high levels of power over long durations .

Or, “Do LOTS of Work.”

It can be challenging to program this yourself because most will exaggerate their abilities, push too aggressively, and their power diminishes.

I’ve detailed how to use OTM training inside ‘SWING HARD!’. I’ll leave a link in the video description below, if you’re wanting to learn more.

Finally, I only use OTMs for ballistics work, NOT pure strength work / grinds training.

That’s because fatigue accumulates faster in the muscles during grinds - Presses, Squats, etc, than in the ballistics - Swings, Cleans, Snatches, Push Press, Jerk.

So, you’ll need extended rest periods.

And that typically , is where I’ll suggest you use “autoregulation.”

Finally, I will specify specific rest periods on types of strength work, when I’m aiming for - or want to come as close as possible to guaranteeing a specific outcome from that work.

Like when I want a “hybrid” outcome of strength and muscle.

So I’ll use partial rests . Or nearly full rests . Training

You’ll see this inside the “Strong!” program. (It’s how we convert your 4RM Clean + Press into a 10 x 6 - 10 sets of 6 reps - and make it RANDOM .)

(I’ll also leave a link to that in the video description below.)

Hopefully this gives you a little more insight of how to use specific rest periods, and when.

Stay Strong,

Geoff Neupert.