The format decides who works when, and how much anyone rests. Get that clear before the clock starts and you can plan the whole workout around it. Here are the formats you'll see most, and how we'd approach each.
Choosing a partner
Similar ability makes training simple, because you can do the same version of most workouts. Complementary strengths win more competitions: a strong lifter with a fast runner covers more ground in a split-as-needed workout than two of the same. If you're entering a pairs event, look at the likely movements and pick someone whose strengths cover your gaps.
Reliability matters more than either. A partner who turns up for every Saturday session will make you a better team than a fitter one who turns up for half of them.
You go, I go
One partner works, the other rests, then you swap. A classic: 10 rounds each of 10 burpees and 10 kettlebell swings, alternating full rounds.
Because you always get your partner's round as rest, you can go noticeably harder than you would on your own. The bit people lose time on is the changeover. Be standing at your station, kettlebell in hand, when your partner hits the last rep. Two seconds per changeover over twenty changeovers is the better part of a minute.
Split however you like
The team owns a total and divides it as it chooses, one person working at a time. For example: for time, 1,000m row, 100 wall balls and 60 pull-ups, split as needed.
Play to strengths. If one of you rows faster, they take more of the metres. If one of you can string together 15 pull-ups and the other gets 5, an even split costs you minutes. Then keep the sets short, five to ten reps and swap. It feels like you're giving up the chance to do a big set, but a big set that ends in failure costs far more than the rest you'd have had.
Decide before the start who's counting which movement, out loud. Losing count of a split total is one of the most common ways pairs throw away time, and judges won't help you.
Synchro
Both partners do the same rep at the same time, and it only counts when both have finished it. 30 synchro burpees, 20 synchro toes-to-bar, that sort of thing.
The faster partner matches the slower one. Not the other way round. A simple spoken cue ("down... up") keeps you together far better than trying to watch each other. Practise this in training at least a couple of times; the first time you do synchro burpees shouldn't be in front of a judge.
One works, one holds
One partner holds a position, a plank, a dead hang, a pair of kettlebells in the front rack, while the other works. Reps only count while the hold holds, so if the holder drops, the worker stops. These are brutal because nobody ever really rests. Swap before the holder fails, not when they do.
Teams of four
Fours tend to run as relays or as two pairs. In a relay, each athlete does a leg in turn, say a 400m run and 15 wall balls, then tags the next person. In pairs formats, two work while two rest, and the pairs rotate.
Agree the order and who picks up extra reps if someone's struggling before you start, not halfway through. Put your strongest athlete where the work is heaviest. And practise the transitions, because a team of four has a lot of them.
A few sessions worth trying:
- Pairs, 20-minute AMRAP, you go I go: 5 pull-ups, 10 push-ups, 15 air squats.
- Pairs, for time, split as needed: 1,000m row, 80 wall balls, 40 synchro burpees, 1,000m row.
- Team of four, relay: 8 rounds of a 400m run and 15 kettlebell swings, one athlete per round, so everyone goes twice.
If your event takes entry through Fiz, the captain signs the team up and shares an invite link, and teammates join with their own accounts. There's a short guide to joining your team if you need it.
Rules that catch teams out
Read the format rules closely, because they vary between events. Common ones: only one athlete working at a time unless stated otherwise, both partners crossing the finish line before the time stops, a physical tag at changeovers in relays, and specific rules about where the resting partner can stand. A tag missed by half a metre can mean a judge sends you back.
In synchro movements, judges look for both athletes at the same point of the rep, usually the bottom (chest to the floor) and the top (full extension). One partner standing tall while the other is still getting up doesn't count until both are there.
Six weeks before a pairs event
If you've entered a pairs competition, train together once a week for the last six weeks and keep your other sessions as normal. A simple progression: in weeks one and two, practise each format you expect with light, short pieces, focusing purely on changeovers and counting. In weeks three and four, do one full-length partner workout a week at competition effort and agree your splits afterwards, while you can still remember where it hurt. In week five, rehearse the event workouts if they've been released. Week six, keep it short and sharp, and spend ten minutes agreeing the plan for each workout so there's nothing to discuss on the floor.
Write the splits down. "You take the first 30 wall balls in sets of ten, I take the next 30" is easy to forget at minute eight.