TABATA Work Out!

April 15, 2012 -
19 comments, add yours

hey guys! Winking smile
Thanks so much for the GIVEAWAY love!
(if you haven’t entered yet, you have until THURSDAY!)
cupcake wine glass

So lately, I’ve been loving TABATA work outs.

& some of you may be asking, what is a TABATA?
(I know I still can’t even pronounce it right, as you’ll see in my video)

Here’s some info on these interval work outs

There are many different forms of workouts out there and each workout will give you a different result.
Some increase muscle mass, some increase strength, others help you lose weight and so forth.

Cardiovascular (cardio for short) exercises are a popular brand of exercise designed to improve endurance and stimulate fat loss.
Cardio exercises can be anything from long distance running, skipping, biking or even power walking.
All of these usually fall under the category of moderate intensity training because they
tend to last anywhere from a half hour to more than an hour going at the same pace.

“Tabata” is the name of a particular type of workout program that provides similar health benefits to that of cardio workouts,
but Tabata has a bit more spice.

Instead of hours upon hours or exercise, Tabata can be completed in 4 minutes.
(HENCE why I LOVE them, they are SHORT & SWEET, with lots of sweat)

Tabata falls under the category of high intensity training or high intensity interval training.

How did Tabata come about?
Tabata was founded by a Japanese scientist named Izumi Tabata and fellow colleagues at a department of physiology in Japan.
Izumi and his fellow scientists decided to conduct a study to compare moderate intensity training with high intensity training.

He conducted the tests on 2 groups of athletes; 1 of the groups used the moderate intensity interval training and the other using high intensity interval training.

In group one; the athletes were training in moderate intensity workouts (70% intensity) for five days a week for a total of six weeks with each training session lasting an hour.

Group two trained in the high intensity workouts for 4 days a week for a total of 6 weeks with each session lasting 4 minutes,
at 20 seconds of intense training (170% intensity) and 10 seconds of rest.

What were the results of the tests?

Group 1 had a significant increase in the aerobic system (cardiovascular system).
However, the anaerobic system (muscles) gained little or no results at all.

Group 2 showed much improvement in all their athletes.
Their aerobic systems increased much more than group ones, and their anaerobic systems increased by 28%.

Conclusion?

Not only did high intensity interval training have more of an impact on the aerobic systems;
it had an impact on the anaerobic systems as well.

So what does a basic Tabata training design look like?

Any exercise can be incorporated into the Tabata training.
However the basic outline of the Tabata training method are as follows:
•     4 minutes-20 minutes long (whole Tabata Session)
(depending on what exercises you are doing)
•     20 seconds of intense training
•     10 seconds of rest
•     Total of 8-40 “sessions” or “rounds”

I honestly have been using these as my forms of exercise lately and I’m LOVING the results!
I feel so much stronger & I love challenging myself.

I get way more out of these than I do with 30 minutes of cardio on a machine.

When I’m done with these TABATA work outs,
I’m out of breath, so sweaty, & feel like I had an awesome work out!

Don’t get me wrong, I do enjoy my elliptical still.
But the feeling is way different when I complete a TABATA!

I also incorporate some stationary heavy lifting as well
& still focus on certain body parts on different days.
But I have to admit that these have really challenged my body!

I get a lot of inspiration for my work outs that I write up from

BODYROCK.TV
(they have awesome TABATA work outs!)

I also just got my GYMBOSS TIMER!
You can set alarm that goes off every time you need to start your next round!

IMG_3206

I love it, it’s like having someone there yelling to get you to move Winking smile

I posted one of my TABATA work outs here:
It was focusing on biceps & triceps with some cardio bursts!

IMG_2832

So here is an example of a TABATA work out that my mom & I did last week!

Also, rocking my SPARKLY SOUL headband! love them!

TABATA Interval Workout

ENJOY!

Questions:

Have you ever tried TABATA work outs?

What are some of your favorites!?