Ever wanted to have more results while doing less exercise? Thanks to Tabata, this dream can become a reality. Tabata training is a high intensity interval training and is named after its founder: a Japanese scientist, Dr. Izumi Tabata.
The research Tabata did included two groups of test subjects: one working out five times a week for six weeks at a moderate level, with each workout lasting one hour. The other group worked out at a high intensity four times a week for six weeks, each workout lasting only four minutes and 20 seconds.
The results were absolutely astounding. The first group showed an increase in their aerobic system but little in their anaerobic system, while the second group showed a much greater increase in their aerobic system and a large increase in their anaerobic system. How does it work? You exercise your absolute hardest for 20 seconds and then you rest for 10 and keep doing that until the 4 minutes for that workout are finished.
The idea of working out less and seeing more results was really appealing to me, so I gave it a try. For the past two weeks, I've been doing Tabata training workouts every day, each lasting 20 minutes. All you need is a water bottle (a real necessity), some sort of mat (a towel works) and a place with a great view.
Day 1 to 3
Hard. Hard accurately describes what days 1-3 was like. It might not sound like working out vigorously for just 4 minutes is hard, but it is. Pictured above is the sequence I did for the first few days, and by the first two minutes, I was really tired.
Day 4 to 6
Burpees are hard. I don't think any sort of workout involving a burpee is easy. I don't think I will be doing burpees again in a Tabata workout until I have gotten into better shape. Definitely not a good idea for a beginner!
Day 7 to 10
I have now been sore for quite a few days, so I recommend starting with shorter workouts or taking days off in between so that your body can recover. It would also be possible to workout every day if each day was focused on a different body part so that your muscles could rest and recover. On day 10 it was noticeably easier to finish the full twenty minutes.
Day 11 to 14
Day 14 finally came and I have to say I am happy to be done! I will be giving myself a long rest to recover after this experiment. Besides feeling sore, I have more energy and in general feel pretty good.
I'll be honest: I don't like long runs (and establishing a running routine can be hard) or doing lot's of cardio for little results. I, therefore, love high intensity interval training. It's quicker for us lazy people and has better results after trying it. I will be continuing Tabata workouts for the foreseeable future.