Tabata is a form of High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT).
Tabata was created by Japanese scientist Dr. Izumi Tabata and has become very popular, especially within the Crossfit culture. The principle lies around short bursts of high intensity exercise with even less rest. The standard formation of a Tabata workout is 8 rounds of:
Work 20sec
Rest 10sec
Total – 4min!
4 minutes may not seem very long but believe me, if you are doing an exercise well and to the best of your ability, 4 minutes is plenty of time. The high intensity nature with little rest does mean Tabata is further up the scale towards muscular endurance and overall fitness than anything else. You can change work/rest timings to suit your goals more accurately but for true Tabata workouts, stick as close to 20/10 as you can. You don’t have to stick to one exercise either – 2 exercises with a total of 8 rounds offers the opportunity to creat some crazy supersets or even pre-exhaustion workouts (4 rounds pec fly – 4 rounds press ups).
An amazing form of workout that is not for the faint hearted. For the best benefits be strict with your rest and be performing the first repetitions of your chosen exercise by the time your stop watch says GO!
Mix it up and find what works best for you.
See HIIT for more info on this type of training.
