It is often difficult to find time for a full workout at a fitness club or you simply don’t want to leave the house. It turns out that in order to lose weight and at the same time improve your endurance, you don’t have to go anywhere. All you need is a flat surface under your feet, a timer, sometimes a mat, light dumbbells and, of course, knowledge of the Japanese Tabata technique.
The fast, high-intensity training technique was developed by Professor Izumi Tabata and his team of researchers in 1996. During the experiment, two groups of people trained for six weeks, adhering to different strategies. The first group worked out five days a week for an hour at moderate intensity, and the second group worked out four days a week for four minutes at high intensity. It’s hard to believe, but the final results of the second group turned out to be better: they showed noticeable progress in both the aerobic and anaerobic systems.
Tabata: a highly effective workout in 4 minutes
What are the benefits of Tabata?
Great for burning fat
The Exercise Intensity and Energy Expenditure of a Tabata Workout study from the University of Wisconsin at La Crosse found that Tabata workouts caused men and women to burn about 15 calories per minute—great for those looking to lose weight. For comparison: 1 minute of quiet running (8 km/h) burns Calories Burned Calculator 9 kcal.
In addition, when you give it your all, your metabolism speeds up: the body begins to spend energy faster to maintain basic functions.
This means you burn more calories even when you're not doing anything.
Thus, scientists from Auburn University found Tabata interval exercise: Energy expenditure and post-exercise responses that after a 4-minute Tabata of jumping squats, the metabolic rate doubles for at least 30 minutes.
Increases aerobic and anaerobic endurance
Izumi Tabata and his team studied the Effects of moderate-intensity endurance and high-intensity intermittent training on anaerobic capacity and VO2max, how training intensity affects athletes' performance. For six weeks, one group of athletes trained at moderate intensity (MI), and the second at high intensity (HI). The SI group trained five days a week for an hour, and the VI group trained four days a week for four minutes.
As a result, the SI group improved the functioning of the aerobic system (VO2max - the amount of oxygen consumed - increased by 5 ml/kg/min), but the anaerobic parameters remained almost unchanged. In the second group, the aerobic system also increased (VO2max increased by 7 ml/kg/min), and anaerobic endurance increased by 28%.
The aerobic system works during light, low-intensity exercise (jogging, walking, gentle cycling). The anaerobic system is activated during short-term heavy exercise (sprinting, lifting heavy weights with low repetitions, explosive movements) or long-term intense exercise (high-intensity interval training, middle-distance running).
Developing different types of endurance will improve your performance in any sport and will be useful in everyday life. It will be easier for you to climb stairs, carry heavy things, and perform similar everyday tasks.
Spends minimal time
Even the busiest person can find some time to warm up and do a 4-minute Tabata.
You can do just four minutes a day and get as many or more benefits than an hour of cardio.
Timers for Tabata training
A regular timer on your phone is definitely not suitable for training, because you need to stop it manually and set the next setting yourself. Therefore, for high-intensity interval training, special timers were invented that notify the beginning and end of the round with a loud sound. They work continuously for exactly as many rounds as you need.
• Online timers.
They can be found on various websites and enabled online. It is most convenient to launch such timers from a computer rather than from a smartphone. For example, the TabataTimer website offers not only to set the number of rounds and cycles, but also to select music for training: hip-hop, country rock, street funk and other styles.
• Video timers.
There are a great variety of them on the YouTube platform: you can choose a video with the design you like, with or without music, and with a different number of rounds.
• Applications for smartphones.
This is the most convenient option for training outside the home, as it can be opened directly from your phone.
Free apps for iOS:
“CrossFit Timer” (developed by Alexander Senin), “Tabata.
Interval timer" (developed by Axiom Mobile LLC). Free Android apps:
Tabata Timer (developed by Simple Vision), Tabata Timer and HIIT Timer for Interval Workouts (developed by Parabolic River).
Quick workout: how to load the whole body in 30 minutes?
Functional training. A toned body in 15 minutes a day
What exercises to do
There are many different movements that can be performed using the Tabata protocol. Here are the classic options:
- sprint;
- rowing on a simulator;
- jumping rope;
- swimming;
- sledding;
- burpee;
- box jumping;
- kettlebell swings;
- push ups;
- lunges;
- squats, air or dumbbell;
- exercise “Climber”;
- lifting the body on the press.
Choose exercises that use a lot of muscles. Leave isolated (working one muscle group) and isometric exercises (you don't move, your muscles tense to maintain position; a good example is the plank) for other workouts.
Sports coach's opinion
Our specialist: Ekaterina Chernoshkur is a personal trainer at BodyArt fitness, a specialist in strength and functional training, a winner of the Kiev City Championship and Cup in classical powerlifting.
Tabata is a workout that includes an intense load in a short period of time: a load with a work interval of 20 seconds and a rest of 10 seconds. One such workout includes 8 intervals (work + rest), for a total of four minutes of work, after which you can begin exercises on other muscle groups.
This type of training is aimed at achieving different results: reducing fat mass, maintaining and improving muscle tone, strengthening the heart muscle, increasing endurance.
To perform such exercises, it is important to choose the most suitable pace for yourself, since training according to the Tabata system reveals itself with maximum efficiency precisely at an individual rhythm. It is also worth paying attention to the technique of performing exercises, since if the technique is not followed, the effectiveness decreases.
It is not recommended to be distracted while doing the exercises, and during a ten-second rest it is better to sit, stand or walk to restore your breathing and maintain concentration, this will make it much easier to continue the exercise.
The training scheme may look like this: 8 exercises for different muscle groups, that is, 8 intervals of work of 20 seconds for each exercise, and 10 seconds of rest. By doing, for example, 5 such circles, in just 20 minutes you will work out the main muscle groups, intensively and effectively.
Of course, it is not recommended to do training every day; 1-3 times a week will be enough, depending on your initial physical fitness. The load should be selected personally for yourself, ideally this should be done with the participation of a specialist - a professional fitness trainer. Thus, the results will not be long in coming, and the risk of injury to the process will be minimized.
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Where to get training
There are many videos on the Internet with workouts lasting up to 30–40 minutes, but sets of exercises longer than four minutes can hardly be called Tabata. Since you have to give it your all, eight intervals will be pure hell and it's good if you can finish them without reducing the intensity. If at the end you drop to 50-60% of maximum effort, the benefits of the workout decrease.
Alternatively, you can rest after completing one 4-minute Tabata before starting the next one. In this case, the body will have time to recover, and you will again be able to give your best.
Lifehacker has compiled two collections of Tabata-style workouts: for beginners and advanced.
Workouts for beginners
Training for advanced athletes
Main characteristics of real tabata
Many workouts are classified as Tabata because they use the 20:10 protocol . However, real Tabata is performed with maximum effort and should not exceed 4 minutes . However, some fitness centers offer workouts called “Tabata”, which are different from the real system. To get the full benefits of intense interval training, it is important to understand the difference between real and modern Tabata.
We have already mentioned the results of the study in the Tabata story section, and we want to describe them in a little more detail. In the figure above, the graph on the right shows the degree of anaerobic performance . As expected, the group that trained with the Tabata training system improved their performance, while the group that trained for a longer time did not. This makes sense given that sprints use a lot more anaerobic processes and one would imagine that this would be more efficient for sprint training.
The graph on the left shows the results of oxygen consumption , which shows how effective aerobic exercise is (the more oxygen the body receives, the more effective the aerobic process will be). Both groups improved at about the same rate (the red line shows the Tabata group). This was an expected result for the high duration group since they train specifically for this purpose. The results of the sprint group were surprising as they showed similar improvements. [2]
Thus, a four-minute Tabata workout at maximum intensity provides the same aerobic benefits as 60 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise.
This is probably why some fitness centers or athletes believe that if 4 minutes was so effective, perhaps 20 minutes will be even better . A new workout called Tabata was introduced, and participants were required to train for 20 minutes, always using the classic 20:10 protocol. This type of training is definitely beneficial, but it is not Tabata.
Maximum effort sprints are a key component of Tabata. It is intensity, not duration, that is the key component. A person should not be able to perform more than four minutes of maximal effort work.
Tabata style workout
Kirsten Burgomaster and Martin Gibala conducted a study with different protocols and found similar results compared to traditional endurance training. The big difference with their protocols is that they allow longer rest periods (30 second max effort sprints and 4 minutes rest for 4-7 sets - and only 3 times per week). [9][10]
Similar to Tabata's original research, Burgomaster and Gibala found benefits for aerobic and anaerobic systems. Other studies have found fat burning benefits. [8] People also prefer the extra rest during such workouts, as well as a lower frequency of the workouts themselves. Four minutes of rest allows more time for the ATP-CP system to recover and allows for higher performance at maximum intensity .
Contraindications
The Tabata protocol has no specific contraindications for classes. All warnings are standard for sports:
- Having problems with the cardiovascular system.
- Diseases of the digestive tract.
- Having problems with ligaments and tendons.
- Pregnancy.
- Hypotension and hypertension.
- Diabetes mellitus type 1.
- Atherosclerosis.
- Obesity of the 2nd degree and higher.
The latter is due to the fact that with the high intensity of the Tabata protocol, people are likely to damage their joints and get heart problems, including athlete's heart syndrome.
Although training according to the system is not contraindicated for beginners, even in the absence of any physical form, it would be better for them to first practice general physical fitness for 1-2 months, and then move on to the protocol. Otherwise, the system suits everyone.
Editor's note: Although the Tabata protocol does not involve a warm-up, we still recommend a full body warm-up before performing the complexes, as this reduces the risk of injury and stress on the heart, which is especially important for people over 35 years of age.
How can Tabata help you?
Chances are you are not a professional athlete, but rather a bodybuilder interested in building muscle for aesthetic purposes and gaining greater strength. The Tabata Protocol can offer you both. These strength interval training sessions build endurance and increase your body's ability to burn more fat.
They increase explosive energy—the same energy you would use in a regular set of bench presses—and can help increase your rep range or max weight.
This means muscle growth, but the benefits don't stop there. Because Tabata requires fairly high reps and very short rest periods between sets, you increase the number of blood vessels feeding the muscle fibers.
This helps deliver more nutrients, oxygen and anabolic hormones to the muscles. These additional nutrients will provide your muscles with extra energy during workouts, as well as improve muscle recovery and growth.
But the best benefit for everyone may be the fact that since you are essentially doing anaerobic and aerobic training with the Tabata protocol, you can skip doing cardio if you want. Or you can increase your fat burning by adding 4-8 full-body exercises and doing them in the same interval pattern at the end of each bodyweight workout.
Results of Izumi Tabata's experiment
Let's return to the experiment. Its result was the discovery that the exercise protocol used in the second group provided a simultaneous increase in both aerobic (+14% to the maximum oxygen consumption) and anaerobic abilities (+28% to the maximum level of oxygen deficiency) of the athletes’ body. Aerobic indicators of the first group increased, but anaerobic indicators remained unchanged.
First, the experimental athletes of the second group were forced to turn on the anaerobic component while pedaling an exercise bike intensively at an oxygen consumption level of 170% of the maximum. As a result, oxygen did not yet have time to enter the tissues. Next, an aerobic component was added to the training - a short rest and eight series of exercises in 4 minutes, allowing to restore oxygen reserves in the body.
Subsequent studies by I. Tabata in 1997 and T. Emberts (USA) in 2013 confirmed the effectiveness of the exercise protocol used.
What is Tabata interval training?
This is an interval training method in which you alternate between doing 20 seconds of exercise and 10 seconds of rest for eight cycles. Not only are circuit-style workouts suitable for cardio sessions, they can be adapted to any exercise for any muscle group.
Give me the opportunity to create a Tabata interval training program that will be very effective, but also so hard that you will thank me by hating me.
The extremely short rest periods and seemingly relatively constant number of repetitions make the Tabata protocol an ideal way to lose fat. Despite the lighter weight you'll be using, Tabata training can also take your muscle growth to new heights.
Performing high enough reps with light weights for short periods of time can help break through plateaus.
If you are wondering what Tabata is, the Tabata protocol, where this interval training came from, it has to do with the Japanese scientist who actually developed it, Dr. Izumi Tabata.
Dr. Tabata was looking for a better way to train athletes. The story goes that he analyzed the Japanese speed skating team's practices to improve their performance.
He found that when athletes performed eight cycles of 20-second sprint intervals followed by 10 seconds of rest, they increased both their aerobic (endurance) capacity and anaerobic (explosive power)—two things that speed skaters need.
Tabata offers benefits to you whether you are an endurance athlete, such as a cyclist, or a strength athlete, such as a weightlifter.
Read also: 8-minute Tabata workout: squats and push-ups.
This protocol allows you to train both the core metabolic pathways that give you endurance and those that give you explosive energy. It's no wonder why so many athletes switched to this protocol after working on it for a while.
Purpose of the Tabata complex
Athletes were the first to try the system. The research carried out was aimed at establishing whether the degree of oxygen saturation of muscle tissue changes and whether overall endurance increases.
Along with confirmation of the listed factors, it was also revealed that the fat layer becomes much smaller. The use of L-carnitine and similar sports supplements can increase the achieved effect.
Practicing according to the system is recommended for absolutely everyone who wants to achieve their coveted slimness. Weight loss is not the only positive effect. Tabata increases endurance and trains the heart.
What is endurance
Before moving on to describing the details, let's make a brief excursion into human physiology. Muscular work causes biochemical changes in the human body, which allow it to adapt to changed conditions caused by physical activity. Properly constructed systematic training makes it possible to accumulate this adaptive effect and bring positive results - they develop strength, endurance, speed and other qualities.
Of these, it is endurance—the ability of a person to work for as long as possible at a given power, overcoming developing fatigue—that is the element of physical training that determines the level of performance of an athlete.
This ability has two main components:
1)
General endurance or aerobic endurance component. This is a component with the predominant participation of oxygen supplied from outside, which is responsible for achieving and long-term maintaining a certain level of power of the work performed. It affects both intramuscular processes and changes in general body systems. At the same time, it can be developed with an extremely wide range of exercises - the main thing is to choose the right mode. Its main effect is an increase in the body’s energy reserves, the ability to consume, transport and utilize oxygen.
2)
Speed-strength endurance or anaerobic component of endurance. This is a component with a predominant participation of energy-intensive substances and oxygen reserves in the body. It is responsible for the level and speed of the achieved work power, affects the energy reserves of the muscles, and the involvement of the nerve centers that control the work of the muscles. Due to the specificity of the substances whose presence in the body affects this component, an extremely limited range of exercises can be used in its training - short-term strength exercises, volumetric training at maximum or close to it power.
The main indicator of general endurance is maximum oxygen consumption, i.e. maximum absorption of oxygen by the body over a certain period of time.
One of the indicators of speed-strength endurance is the maximum level of oxygen deficiency (the difference between the required and consumed oxygen). It is also affected by the level of energy reserves in the body in the form of glycogen (carbohydrates) and creatine phosphate (a high-energy compound).
