Tabata Training Burns Fat Faster

June 18, 2010 | 1 Comment

Tabata is a high-intensity interval workout which is said to dramatically burn fat, build muscle, and increase aerobic as well as anaerobic capacity (as much as 14% and 28%) in as little as four minutes a day.

Sounds too good to be true?  Well, it is not as simple as it sounds.  While Tabata can be done in a short amount of time and it does produce amazing results, it was originally created with Olympic athletes in mind and it is not easy … not even for the best athletes.  Tabata workouts may be brief, but they are also intense.  In fact Dr. Izumi Tabata (one of the creators of this burning workout) himself gave this important warning:

“High-intensity exercise cannot be prescribed for individuals at risk for health problems or for obese people who are not used to exercise.”

A Tabata workout consists of 8 rounds of short 20-second bursts of intense exercise followed by a brief 10-second period of rest.  The exercise itself can be anything such as jumping rope, squats, burpees, sprints, pushups, situps, etc.  The key is to go all out for 20 seconds and then take a 10-second rest period (which only allows a partial recovery), and then repeat 7 more rounds.  In the video above by BodyRock.TV, Host Zuzana is demonstrating jumping rope using the Tabata protocol.  To keep track of your timing, you may want to invest in a Gymboss Interval Timer (using my affiliate link) such as the one Zuzana is using.

Studies have shown that this particular pattern of short, intense intervals can increase metabolic rate significantly for hours after you finish the workout.   Which means Tabata, when done correctly, is very effective for burning fat due to the effects on the metabolism.

Here’s how to perform a Tabata workout using a Gymboss interval timer:

  1. Pick an exercise of your choice.
  2. Set your Gymboss to 00:20 and 00:10 on auto mode for 8 rounds for any body weight exercise.
  3. Do as many reps as possible in 20 seconds.
  4. Repeat seven times.

    5. If you would like to increase your workout even more, pick another exercise and do another 8 rounds.

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Posted by Julie | Filed Under HIIT, Tabata Training