Don’t have enough time in your day to get a good workout in? Think again. Tabata, one of the most popular forms of HIIT (or high-intensity interval training), is your answer! The exercise only takes 4 minutes, which might make it sound easy, but it isn’t! Tabata training is an extremely challenging exercise that will test your physical strength as well as mental determination. Read on to learn more about why Tabata training is an amazing workout.
What Is Tabata & How To Do The Workout
The Tabata workout was designed by Dr. Izumi Tabata, a former researcher at Japan’s National Institute of Fitness and Sports. Although his study was based on and designed for Olympic athletes, non-athletes can benefit from this training as well. The goal of Tabata is to challenge yourself to go beyond your comfort zone in order to produce your desired results. You have the ability to decide what the maximum effort is for each 20-second exercise/10-second rest is as well as how many 30-second intervals your body is ready for. In addition to burning calories, this workout can potentially help you improve your endurance and cardiovascular health.
Tabata workouts vary in intensity and duration. An example of a typical Tabata 4-minute workout structure is as follows:
- Exercise for 20 seconds
- Rest for 10 seconds
- Complete 8 rounds
Some of the exercises you can include in your workout are: squat jumps, push-ups, burpees, lunges, and sit-ups.
For a great visualization of the workout, check out this video:
Warming Up
It’s essential to properly warm-up before beginning a Tabata workout. The purpose of a warm-up is to get your body feeling prepared for the workout itself. A proper warm-up can help you avoid getting injured later and can make you feel more energized. An effective warm-up will not only allow for a better workout but also a better recovery after you’ve done the workout. If you’re looking for a specific example of a great warm-up or just want a few tips in terms of how to approach doing a warm-up, check out this article.
What Are The Benefits Of Tabata Training?
Tabata training is scientifically proven to be beneficial in terms of your overall health.
No matter how busy you are, you can do this exercise on a regular basis. One of the most common obstacles when it comes to exercising is time. With hectic lives, we sometimes don’t have too much time in our day to workout. The short duration of Tabata workouts eliminates the time obstacle and might increase a person’s willingness to exercise.
According to a study conducted by Michele Olson, an AUM Professor, “you can achieve the same benefits doing short bouts of exercise that would normally take 20-30 minutes. During a Tabata workout, you can burn four times the amount of calories than with other typical cardio exercises, such as running (or any other examples). And guess what? Tabata will only take up 4 minutes of your life!
Your anaerobic capacity can increase by up to 28%. In 1996, Japanese scientist, Izumi Tabata created a study that compared “moderate-intensity” training for 60 minutes with HIIT for a total of 4 minutes. The results of the study revealed that HIIT improved the anaerobic capacity similarly to moderate-intensity training. It also resulted in a dramatic increase in anaerobic capacity.
The term “anaerobic” refers to the maximum amount of energy a person’s body can produce when oxygen is absent. In order to get and maintain this energy, your body needs to burn carbohydrates. Tabata workouts are especially known for burning a high amount of calories. One reason behind this is the “after burn” effect, which is how your body continues to burn fat for a full day after the workout itself.
The workouts are perfect in terms of burning fat quickly. Since it is such a fast-paced workout, your heart rate will rapidly increase. This raises your “metabolism,” which is the process by which your body converts what you eat and drink into energy. Because of this, the results are amazing: you can burn up to 13.5 calories every minute by doing this exercise!
You can do this workout anywhere at any time. The use of workout equipment, such as weights and machines, is completely unnecessary. All you need is a timer! The lack of equipment makes this workout possible even in the smallest of rooms.
Proof That Tabata Exercises Work
When Kari Hammond’s daughter told her she was worried about her health, Kari decided it was time to get healthier, so Hammond decided to start doing Tabata workouts. Very soon, Hammond started to combine cutting back on sugar and tracking her caloric intake and output with Tabata workouts.
When she first began her training, however, she could only exercise for a few minutes before feeling completely exhausted. She was still determined to build up her stamina. Her incredible determination resulted in her losing weight very quickly within only a few weeks. Hammond ended up losing about 78 pounds in a year. Read more about her amazing story here.
How To Get Started With Tabata
Tabata training is fast, fun, and effective in terms of burning calories and gaining muscle. A great way to start off with this type of training is by challenging yourself. Start by doing this workout once a week for a month, and increase the number of times by one every week after.
It’s also worth mentioning a few phone apps that can assist you when doing this type of exercise:
- Swift Tabata is perfect for beginners since it explains how to perform each exercise safely and walks you through the basics. Price: Free on Android
- Seconds Pro Interval Timer is an app made for a trainee at any level. It’s a very helpful app since it tells you what exercise is coming up next. Price: $7.99 on iPhone, $4.99 on Android
- Tabata Stopwatch Pro is the best app for beginners and advanced users and is a great option if you like to customize your workout. Price: Free on Android + iPhone
When you begin exercising on a more regular basis, you will probably want to know exactly how your progress is going. However, this is sometimes very difficult to tell. ShapeScale, a 3D body scanner, can solve this problem by letting you know and see how your workout is changing your body.
Do you have what it takes to get into Tabata? Feel free to send us a Tweet and let us know how your experience has been going! @shape20fit
