In today’s day and age, we all want a quick fix in terms of fitness, appearance and energy – athletes are no different. If you’re one of the many people who want an efficient way to workout, the question remains simple: Can you get a really great workout in a short amount of time, as short as four minutes? The answer is yes, if you’re using Tabata interval training. The premise is simple – you perform a high intensity workouts for a short amount of time to tone up without taking up half of your day at the gym. But don’t be fooled – just because these workouts are quick to complete, it doesn’t mean that they’re easy. You’ll certainly know that you’ve been exercising. The formula is easy: you workout to your absolute maximum for 20 seconds, then rest for ten seconds. Then you do it all over again for a set amount of rounds. In order for them to work, though, you need to give your absolute all when you’re exercising. The idea behind this way of exercising is that you pack in as many repetitions as possible, into six to eight 20-second work periods. By the time your last round rolls up, you’ll really be feeling the result of your efforts.
You need to think of Tabata as a guidelines for creating high-intensity interval workouts – there’s no one set workout that works better than any other. As long as you stick to the 20/10 rule, you can use almost any exercise that you want to. The best thing about tabata workouts is that you can keep them interesting and fresh all the time, simply by mixing up the exercises whenever you feel like a change. As well as that, you can do these workouts anywhere, as all you need is a stopwatch and plenty of willpower. If you’re new to this form of exercising, or any exercise for that matter, then you should just aim for one bout of Tabata intervals. But as you build up strength and fitness, you’ll be able to increase how long you exercise for. You can build your own Tabata workout by selecting one or two exercises per circuit; you can complete six rounds of the same workout, or you can alternate between two if you wish. Other than your timer, you don’t need any equipment so they’re easy to perform at any time or place. Your bodyweight does all of the work here, along with your willpower and exertion.
Whatever you enjoy doing the most, be it skipping rope sessions or lunges and push-ups, you can include it with Tabata. You can also include weights into your routine if you really want to impact your body and muscles. Because of the simplicity of the Tabata design, you can easily top up other workouts and exercise sessions with Tabata interval training throughout the week – just be sure to give yourself plenty of time to rest in between, as the short space of time spent actually exercising is deceiving, and you’ll need time to rest. But what’s most appealing about Tabata is that it keeps things exciting. Exercise is something that become boring very quickly, and once our motivation slips it’s tricky to get it back. But with interval training, you can ensure that you keep fit, stay interested and save time in one fell swoop – a great way to keep fit if you’re strapped for time and creativity.
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