Training Thursday- Create Your Own Tabata Workout

If you haven't heard about Tabata training- basically it was a training process thought up by a guy with the last name of...you guessed it...Tabata. Pretty much, he took a strength training workout and broke each move down into the following work:rest ratios to increase the intensity and up the calorie burning for a fast, effective training style.

20 seconds work, 10 seconds off x 8 sets 
Total: 4 minutes per move

The Tabata training protocol is great for a few reasons:

• Great way to mix up a normal strength training routine
• Blast a lot of calories in a short period of time
• They not only incorporate strength, but muscular endurance and cardiovascular endurance
• You can choose literally ANY movement you want and make it Tabata style
• Research has shown that people using this style of training improved their VO2 max within just a few weeks. (VO2 max is one of our main tools to test heart and aerobic efficiency).

I use Tabata intervals all the time- for my own training, as well as incorporating Tabata intervals into the classes that I teach.

Here's how you can create your own Tabata workout:

1. Warm up for 5-10 minutes
2. Choose 4-5 moves.
3. Apply the Tabata training interval to each move. You will complete all 8 sets of the same move before moving on to the next.  At 4 minutes each, this will take you between 16-24 minutes depending on number of moves and how long you take to rest in between each move.
4. Cool down and stretch.

Example:

Try it out! Let me know what you did and how it went.