Tabata Training

Tabata training is an exercise regime where you do short bursts of intense activity with a brief rest between. You would usually only spend about 5 minutes on any one exercise period.

If you are short of time or prefer a short sharp shock then this is the exercise regime for you.

Save Time, Burn Fat and Increase Metabolism

It is an excellent exercise for general fitness, the main advantages being:

  1. It is very time efficient – maximum 10 to 15 minutes with the warm up.
  2. It is an excellent fat burning exercise
  3. It trains your body to increase its metabolism as your mind has to anticipate these intense exercise periods
  4. It is a very good exercise for competitive sport preparation as it builds determination and focus

You choose the exercise that you wish to do and then do this for 20 seconds as hard as possible and then take a 10 second break. You repeat this up to a maximum of 10 times.

Tabata Training Exercise Types

These six exercises all work well with the short burst approach to fitness.

You must always warm up properly as the exercise is very intense and there is a possibility of overstretching a muscle. Always do some muscle stretches even if you do a 10 minute jog before you begin sprinting.

  • Squats

  • Sprints

  • Mixed Press-Ups

  • Dead Lifts

  • Rowing Machine

  • Cycling Machine

Tabata Training Program

  1. Warm up the muscles that you are going to use. You will need to spend 5 to 10 minutes on this especially if you have been sitting around, your circulation is poor or you are outside and it is cold. I prefer to use something like Tai Chi as it works well and puts you into a good mental state for more intense physical fitness.
  2. 20 seconds of exercise as hard as possible
  3. 10 second break
  4. Repeat the exercises and breaks up to a maximum of 10 times

You can time yourself with a stop watch or a more sophisticated digital watch that allows you to set alarms at 10 second intervals.

However, it is very beneficial to count in your head using a calm voice. This mentally helps you to separate what is very intense physical activity with clear and concentrated thought.