AMRAP: what it means and how to do an AMRAP set at the gym

AMRAP in numbers

What an AMRAP set is for

An AMRAP set is above all a measurement: it tells you whether it's time to add weight. On machines and with bodyweight it's also an ordinary last set to failure that builds muscle like other intensity techniques, but taking every set to failure doesn't bring more strength or more muscle (ACSM 2026).

How to do an AMRAP set

1. Pick a weight you can do the minimum with, e.g. 5 on the barbell squat or 10 on the leg press, with 2-3 reps in reserve.
2. Do the AMRAP with your working-set weight as the last set of the exercise. Do it as the first set when you want to use its result to estimate your 1RM or set the weight of your back-off sets; you can work out that weight in the 1RM calculator.
3. Set the safety arms a few centimeters below the bottom of your squat; for the bench press, set them so the bar rests on them when you flatten your arched back. Or ask for a spot.
4. On the barbell squat and barbell bench press, stop at technical failure: in the squat when your hips rise faster than your shoulders, in the bench press when the bar drifts off its path or your glutes leave the bench.
5. On machines, cables and bodyweight exercises, keep going until the next rep won't go through the full range of motion without swinging.
6. Log the reps and RIR 0 after muscular or technical failure. If you stop because a rep only slowed down a lot, log RIR 1.

The thresholds below are our practice, modeled on the APRE method (Zhang et al. 2021).

How to estimate your 1RM from an AMRAP set

An AMRAP set gives you an estimated 1RM: 80 kg × 8 on the barbell bench press comes out at about 100 kg in the 1RM calculator. Formulas are most accurate for sets of up to 10 reps (Reynolds et al. 2006), and on the leg press they overestimate 1RM by 10-15%. For a set with reps in reserve, use the RIR and RPE mode.

AMRAP set examples in kg

AMRAP with bodyweight, machines and barbells

AMRAP sets to failure are safest with bodyweight and on machines, where you need no spotter.

AMRAP vs EMOM vs rest-pause

In an AMRAP set you fix the weight in advance, in an AMRAP workout the length of the workout, in EMOM the reps per minute, and in rest-pause the weight and the short pauses.

With a barbell, an AMRAP on a lighter back-off set is often the safer choice, e.g. 80 kg × 10+ after 100 kg × 5.

AMRAP workouts in CrossFit

In CrossFit, AMRAP is a timed workout: as many rounds as possible in a set time, e.g. 5 pull-ups, 10 push-ups and 15 squats on repeat for 20 minutes (CrossFit 2024).

EMOM: what it is and how it differs from AMRAP

EMOM (every minute on the minute) is a format in which you do a set number of reps at the start of every minute and rest for the rest of that minute (CrossFit 2024). An EMOM 10 on the barbell squat is, for example, 3 reps every minute with a weight you could lift 10-12 times, 30 reps in total.

In 25 functional fitness athletes, EMOM was the least fatiguing of three timed formats: it produced the least lactate and, unlike AMRAP, didn't lower jump height (Oliver-López et al. 2025).

Common mistakes

1. AMRAP on every set. After sets to failure, recovery takes longer, up to 24-48 h (Morán-Navarro et al. 2017), and strength doesn't go up any faster. Do one AMRAP set per exercise.
2. Stopping at the minimum. A “10+” set stopped at 10 when more reps were there measures nothing. Go to failure or to your planned reserve.
3. Partial reps. A pull-up without your chin over the bar or a bar bounced off your chest inflates the result. Count only full reps.
4. Different conditions every week. A result isn't comparable when the rest was shorter or the exercise came at a different point in the workout (e.g. at the end instead of the start); keep the same exercise order and the same rest.

What the research says

Research on AMRAP sets covers how many reps people do at a given %1RM and the APRE method.

It's unknown whether one AMRAP set at the end of an exercise gives more in the long run than the same plan without it: the APRE studies lasted only 5-10 weeks.

How to log an AMRAP set in SmartWorkout

In SmartWorkout you set up an AMRAP set in a plan or template as a set with only a minimum number of reps; there's no separate set type for it.

1. In the plan creator or in a template, tap the reps column header and choose “Repetition range” under “Repetition options”.
2. Enter the minimum in the “min” field, e.g. 10, and leave the “AMRAP” field empty.
3. During the workout this set has a target of “10 - ∞”. Enter the reps you actually did, because approving an empty set logs just the minimum.
4. On the keyboard, pick RIR 0 or, on the RPE scale, RPE 10.

Our free full body to split plan has “12+” sets in the reverse crunches and machine abdominal crunches.

You can paste this fragment through plan import (Workout > My Plans > “+” > “Import plan”). Import costs 10 AI credits, so the welcome credits cover it.

DAY: Lower A- Barbell Squat | WU 2x5 | 2x5 RIR 3 + 1x5+ | TEMPO 20X0 | REST 180- Leg Press | 2x10 RIR 2 + 1x10+ RIR 0 | TEMPO 2010 | REST 150- Seated Leg Curl | 3x10-12 RIR 1 | TEMPO 2011 | REST 90- Machine Abdominal Crunches | 1x12+ RIR 1 + 1x12+ RIR 0 | TEMPO 2011 | REST 60