10 Tabata Workouts to Burn Fat and Build Muscle Tabata training is one of the most popular forms of high-intensity interval training (HIIT). It consists of eight rounds of ultra-high-intensity exercises in a specific 20-seconds-on, 10-seconds-off interval.
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In 1996 Japanese Olympic Speed Skating Team trainer and scientist Izumi Tabata presented a study analyzing the effectiveness of a specific HIIT program that the head coach had developed for his athletes. The team was split into different groups. The first group trained on ergonomic cycles at moderate intensity for one hour, five days per week, for a total of six weeks. The second group completed four-minute, high-intensity workouts on ergonomic cycles four days per week for a total of six weeks. The program that group two followed is what has come to be known as Tabata training:
Eight rounds. Each round = 20 seconds of work, followed by 10 seconds of rest. Tabata describes the desired intensity of work at around 170% of an athlete’s VO2 max—their maximum rate of oxygen consumption. At the conclusion of the six weeks of training, Tabata found that group two had experienced a 28% increase in their anaerobic capacity, as well as a 14% increase in their VO2 max. When summarizing the effect of the study and the HIIT program, Tabata writes that “moderate-intensity aerobic training that improves the maximal aerobic power does not change anaerobic capacity and that adequate high-intensity intermittent training may improve both anaerobic and aerobic energy supplying systems significantly, probably through imposing intensive stimuli on both systems”. Find more information from the US National Library of Medicine. 1
Crossfit girls during wods © RX'd Photography
The favorite and most effective application has been the “Tabata” squat – a 20 seconds on, 10 seconds off repeated 8 times squatting effort scored by the lowest number of reps performed in any of the eight intervals. This single drill tests for and develops elite athletic capacities. Rankings for this drill accurately predict ranking performance on a wide variety of fundamental athletic skills and performance. Remember that high intensity efforts can produce dramatic aerobic benefit without the muscle wasting seen with endurance training. Check out this excellent article from Greg Glassman on Metabolic Conditioning in the CrossFit Journal for more insight.
BENEFITS OF TABATA TRAINING
Increase lean muscle
Decrease body fat