Totally Tabata- What is Tabata training?
What is Tabata training?
For years, I had read references to the “Tabata protocol” but it sounded more like a code of conduct for elite special forces than a way to tighten my butt. People would rave about how great Tabata was and the skeptic in me would think, “4 minutes…yeah right.” Finally, I decided I had to see for myself.
Enlist me. I’ll follow the protocol.
I was sore for days. The best part was that it was only 4 minutes and those 4 minutes went by really fast because I was focused on the short time segments (and it is just 4 minutes).
Tabata what???? Time segments??? A Tabata workout consists of high-intensity 20 second work intervals followed by 10 seconds of rest. You repeat this pattern 8 times for a total of 4 minutes. I’ll use sprinting as an example. (I recommend not doing Tabata on treadmill for safey’s sake.) Sprint 20 seconds. Rest 10 seconds. Repeat 7 more times (8 total) for a total of 240 seconds or 4 minutes. You can Tabata almost anything squats, burpees, pull-ups (yeah right), sit ups, push ups, lunges, probably even cartwheels although I’d suspect I’d get dizzy and break my neck. I’m going to try Tabata side kicks for extra taekwondo practice.
I “score” my Tabata workouts by adding the highest and lowest reps out of the 8 intervals. For example, in one 4 minute session, I may get 18 reps as my highest number during one 20 second segment and 12 reps as my lowest in another 20 second segment. If I add them together my total “score” would be 30. The next time I do the same workout, I can try for a higher “score”.
Or not.
Tabata Training was developed by Dr. Izumi Tabata while doing research at the Japan’s National Institute of Fitness and Sports. Dr. Tabata and his team were studying the effects of aerobic (with oxygen, i.e., slower steady state cardio) and anaerobic (without oxygen, i.e. HIIT cardio) conditioning. Those doing in the high intesity anaerobic test group (Tabata group) saw a 14% improvement in their aerobic capacity and 28% in their anaerobic capacities. Those in the 60 minute moderate intensity cardio group showed an aerobic capacity improvement of 9.5% and no anaerobic capacity improvement. Here is an nerdy excerpt from the article published in the Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise journal. (You are probably smarter than me…it took me 15 minutes to understand it.)
What does this mean?? It means less time on the cardio machines with better results….YAY!!!!!!! I came across this article Can You Get Fit in Six Minutes a Week? last week that supports the effects of Tabata training. I don’t think I’ll be switching to 6 minute a week workouts but it always makes me feel good to read research that supports what I’ve been doing.
Wanna try a workout with Tabata? Here’s one or here’s another.
Hugs and High Fives,
jenn
If you enjoyed this this post please Subscribe to the RSS Feed.
Sign up for up to have posts emailed to your inbox.
Pin It
This is my (almost) sane quest for insane health. Let's 
i know what you mean about the tabata squats. I’ve been taking Crossfit lessons recently and they had me do air squats tabata style 4mins. Yeah,couldn’t walk for a couple days:)
Hey! I just did Tabata sit ups this morning with Andi. Great workout for sure!
My trainer-friend introduced this to me a while back (the one who also gave me that sprint, squat, push-up track routine). I haven’t tried it yet but want to – thanks for another great post