Tabata: a high-performance workout in 4 minutes

Each of us can face one serious problem – a catastrophic lack of time for one thing or another. And sometimes there may not be enough time not only for meetings with friends or walks, but also for sports. It’s no secret that a standard workout in the fitness center, whether it’s strength, circuit or cardio, takes about an hour and a half, if you don’t count the time it takes to get to your club. It is quite possible that to allocate such amount of time for sports will be impossible for you because of work or urgent household chores. The question remains: what to do in this case, if you want to be in good shape, but every minute counts?

The answer to this question was found by a Japanese professor, Dr. Izumi Tabata during the training of Japanese speed skaters in 1996. After much research, he came up with a system of high-intensity short-term workouts, which was later named Tabata in honor of the inventor.

Tabata training: what is it?

Already after the technique discovered in Japan became quite popular and reached ordinary amateur athletes. Now we call Tabata a system of short interval training of very high intensity. Thanks to it, you can easily become slimmer and improve strength, endurance and speed. The key feature of this workout is the time you spend on it.

It’s hard to believe, but a standard Tabata workout consists of one 4-minute round. They include 8 rounds of 20 seconds of intense exertion and 10 seconds of rest. However, everyone can adjust the distribution of load and rest time to suit themselves if they wish (e.g. 6 30/10 intervals). The number of four-minute sets and, accordingly, the number of exercises can be different, it all depends on your goals and fitness level. For beginners it is recommended to start with 1-2 exercises per workout.

Selection of exercises: what should they be?

It is worth remembering that exercises must necessarily be performed at maximum speed and power. They should involve as many muscle groups as possible. It is also important to properly adjust the sets in terms of severity. On average, you should perform 8-10 reps in 20 seconds and still feel burning in your muscles and fatigue. If you perform too many reps or you don’t feel tired at all, the exercise is probably the wrong one.

The most popular and most effective exercise is the burpee, because it involves the muscles of the whole body. In addition, quite often Tabata includes exercises for:

– lower body: squats with jumping out or with weights, lunges with jumping;
– upper body: push-ups, understanding the kettlebell above the head with a neutral grip;
– abs and torso: dynamic plank, mountain climber, leg lifts, scissors, Russian twists.

But before proceeding to Tabata-training, which itself will not take more than 20 minutes, it is worth paying attention to a small warm-up, and after intense loads – warm-up or stretching. All of this you can easily do at home.

Tabata timer and progress measurement

Since Tabata is directly related to interval exercise, having a timer on hand is a must. But it’s even better to find a handy Tabata timer that will show you work and rest times, as well as count the rounds and exercise cycles you’ve done.

In addition to online timers, it’s now easy to find the perfect smartphone app for you. For example, the app “Tabata. Interval Timer” will help not only to control the time correctly, but also, if desired, will select for you exercises for the right muscle group. And “Crossfit Timer” will allow you to set a convenient mode of exercise: universal tabata protocol or just rounds with the ability to adjust their duration and sound scheme.

So, the timer is set, now how can you track your progress? It’s very simple! You can measure the success of your training by tabata count – the number of all the repetitions of an exercise performed in 8 rounds (4 minutes). But the most important thing to pay attention to is the number of repetitions in the last round, as it is essentially the hardest. If your total tabata count goes up every week, congratulations, you’re on the right track! But if the number of repetitions in the last round also increases each time, you can consider that you are making progress.

By practicing the Tabata method, you will improve not only the endurance, strength, speed of the aerobic system, i.e. cardiovascular, but also the anaerobic system (muscles). Therefore, such training can both save time and be doubly useful if done correctly. Nevertheless, the main thing is health, so it is not recommended to train with serious cardiovascular and blood pressure problems.