The TABATA Workout

Tabata training is a hot buzzword in the fitness industry… it’s popping up
in group cycling classes, at the gym with personal trainers and with
athletes in training. It’s not necessarily new (the study that launched the
idea was done in 1996), but the workout is catching some serious steam in
the fitness world. Why? Because it’s short and helps you burn more
calories over a 24-hour period. Sound like a winner? Read on…

Tabata training takes four minutes to complete – 11 minutes if you include
the warm-up and cool down time. Here’s the scoop:

1) Tabata training is a form of HIIT training (High Intensity Interval
Training). This is where you alternate “work” and “recovery” periods in
order to improve performance, endurance and fat-burning abilities..

2) Tabata is more intense and shorter than most HIIT workouts. Tabata
essentially goes like this:
· 5 minute warm up
· 4 minutes of Tabata intervals
. 20 seconds of “work”
. 10 seconds of “rest”
. Repeated 8 times
· 2 minute cool down

3) The original Tabata protocol was done on athletes who worked at
170% of their VO2 max – which is unrealistic and too hard for the average
exercise participant.

4) So, for the average exercise participant, “work” means HARD AS YOU
CAN; it means push yourself to a new level; it means muster all the power
you can and GO for 20 seconds! Listen to your body and just make it work
harder than you normally do for just a few seconds.

5) The 10-second rest can literally be stopping and standing (catching
your breath), or you can continue moving at a super slow, easy pace.

6) You can do Tabata most efficiently with these workouts:
· Treadmill training
· Elliptical training
· Cycling
· Outdoor walking/running
· Stair climbing
· Running in place
· Jump rope
· Swimming

Okay, now here’s the best part: why do Tabata?

Because you’ll burn more calories over a 24-hour period. You might burn
100 calories in the 4 minute session, but that burn continues – at a higher
level than other workouts – for about 24 hours.

Cardio workouts have a higher calorie burn while your working out, but
once you stop the workout the burn rate drops off quickly. Strength
workouts (sculpting, yoga, pilates) have a lower calorie burn per hour – but
have a higher “Excess Post-exercise Oxygen Consumption, or EPOC” –
which means they keep your calorie burn rate going after the workout.
Interval training (like HIIT Or Tabata) has a high calorie burning and a high
EPOC. That’s a win-win!

It’s best to do Tabata once per week. It’s a great workout to build a more
powerful metabolism, but it’s not a method use every day. Let your
workouts have a lot of variety – a couple days of 30 – 60 minute cardio, a
couple days of strength training, and a day for short, but serious interval
training/Tabata.

No matter what form of exercise you choose to do, the point is to get 15 –
60 minutes, at least 6 days a week! Everything you do counts. You don’t
have to do a set amount of time to make a difference and if you miss a day,
so what? Just start again the next day and get back on track so you can
look and feel your best.