Tabata Training- The 4 Minute Workout To A Leaner Body

Most of us in our busy lives don’t have the time to go for a 1-hour workout session or give an hour to ourselves even at home. Every day we plan to go for a run or to the gym the next morning but end up getting late for a meeting and skipping our workout the next day. But why should a presentation or a late night party stop us from having a healthy lifestyle?

The Tabata workout is a 4-minute High Intensity Workout that has been scientifically proven to improve both our aerobic and anaerobic capacity similar to what a moderate intensity 1-hour workout can do and the best part is you can adapt the Tabata Protocol to even your home workouts.

What Is Tabata?

The Tabata Protocol came into existence in 1996. The Japanese researcher Izumi Tabata collaborated with Irisawa Koichi, a Japanese speed skating team coach, who developed a protocol for training his team. The team had to undergo short, intense bouts of sprints followed by short periods of rest.

The 1996 experiment examined two groups of athletes, the first group pedalled at a moderate intensity for 60 minutes and the second group pedalled for 20 seconds at maximum intensity followed by 10 seconds of rest for a total of 4 minutes. They completed 7 sets.

Dr.Tabata came to the conclusion that the second group of athletes had marked improvement in aerobic capacity and even 28% improvement in anaerobic capacity which was unexpected.

The basic principle behind Tabata is to carry out a particular exercise for 20 seconds with maximum effort followed by a 10-second rest and then again repeating the cycle for 4 minutes. So, the maximum you can do is 8 sets, even 7 sets is a good rate. The key here is putting in your maximum effort if by the end of your 4 minutes you don’t have even have the strength to stand up you did a great job. (1)

HIIT Is Not Tabata?

If you are even slightly aware of the different styles of workout you must have guessed that Tabata is a type of HIIT (High-Intensity Interval Training). HIIT is nothing but bursts of high-intensity exercises followed by periods of rest. HIIT is the most popular approach when it comes to losing weight quick and easy.

However, most people confuse HIIT and Tabata. It's a simple logical reasoning concept Tabata is a particular type of HIIT this does not mean that every HIIT exercise session can be termed as Tabata.

So, doing a HIIT workout for 20 minutes or tweaking the Tabata workout to 30-sec intense exercising and 2-minute rest is not Tabata!!! (2)

I am not denying that a 20 minute HIIT workout will burn more calories than a 4-minute workout of the same intensity. In fact, there have been studies which claim that a 20-minute workout is much better than a 4-minute Tabata workout. (3) (4) (5)

But the whole point is to get put in your maximum effort. You might get some benefits from the 20-minute long session but those won’t be the same as the ones from a 4-minute maximum intensity Tabata session.

If the intensity of your workout was such that you had the strength to go on for 20 minutes, then you should absolutely go for the 20 minutes session because you did something seriously wrong there. You shouldn't have been able to go on after those 4 minutes!!!

Also Read: Losing Weight Fast Or Slow: Which Is The Better Way?

The Real Tabata Exercises

With the increasing popularity of Tabata, there are a number of workout routines that you will come up on the internet. Being fairly new not a lot of people are aware of what this whole protocol really is and so they blindly start following whatever sells across in the name of Tabata.

Technically, Tabata consisted of a single exercise but now you will across many Tabata sets that consist of 3-4 exercises. The problem with these sets is that they include exercises like planks and squats which are too complicated to reach a maximum effort in 20 seconds.

It is better to keep your exercise simpler whether you do 1 or 4 different ones.

According to Bodybuilding.com, these are some of the exercises that Dr.Tabata himself has approved as suitable for your typical 4-minute session.

Exercise 1: Crawler

Crawl on all four legs as fast as possible for four paces. Stop, get up, and jump in the air. Turn around, get back on all fours, and repeat.

Exercise 2: Jumping Lunges

Take a lunge position with your arms in a circle. Swing your arms around to one side, then jump the lunge on to the other leg, swinging the arms in the opposite direction.

Exercise 3: Sprawl and Jump

Sprawl out to the side, putting both hands and one foot on the ground. Bring your top leg toward your chest. Push off with the hands and get up into a standing position, then jump. Repeat on the other side.

Exercise 4: Weighted Wood Chop

Lunge to one side, holding a lightweight (2.5-5 lbs.) with both hands. Swing the weight up from the floor to above your opposite shoulder. Repeat, alternating sides.

Exercise 5: Frog Jump

Drop into a squat, then jump in the air with the knees tucked up. Repeat quickly.

Exercise 6: Single Leg Burpee

Start with the push-up position. Jump in with one leg, and then jump up, bringing the opposite knee toward the chest. Repeat on the other side. If this is too difficult, perform the burpees with both legs.

Exercise 7: Single Arm Kick Through

Start with the push-up position. Shift your body weight toward the right arm, and then kick to the left with the right leg. Alternate the movement on your left and right sides quickly.

For a less-advanced version, keep both hands on the ground and alternate knees to the chest rapidly, similar to a mountain climber.

Exercise 8: Crab Squat

Start with a deep squat and lean back into a crab-walk position. Take a small weight (2.5-5 lbs.) in one hand, using the other to balance on the floor. Swing the weight back over your head, adopting the crab position. Alternate sides and repeat quickly.

Tabata And Cardio

Since originally Tabata experiment was done on a spin bike, adapting your cardio to the Tabata style could also be another approach to your 4-minute workout.

You can go for cycling, sprinting, rowing, swimming, jumping ropes or staircase sprints as your choice of workout.

Also Read: Why Is It Difficult For Women To Lose Weight?

Bottomline

If you are already working out you can add Tabata to your work out to maximize your fat loss while maintaining your muscle mass. However, if you are just beginning, start from 3 days a week and gradually go up to 5 days a week. You may initially be able to do fewer repetitions in 20 seconds as you get used to this training style, you can increase the number of repetitions. Just remember to put in your maximum effort and warm up 10 minutes before you start.

Even if you are not a gym fan you can easily choose from the exercises recommended by Dr. Tabata and workout even at home. So, happy working out and give your best shot in 4 minutes!!