So many people ask, how can I get in shape quick? Or how can I drop
weight quick? It seems the quicker the better in many cases and there is a
one word answer, Tabata!
so next question, what is tabata training? It was researched and developed by Dr.
Izumi Tabata and his colleagues at the National Institute of Health and
Nutrition. The training developed was based around very high energy and intense
burst of activity with short recovery and then repeating, such as interval
training, except the key with tabata training is you choose a training method
which rope in as many muscles as you can and requires maximum effort, then you
give it all you’ve for the twenty seconds, it has to be relentless and without
pause. The training works well with such things as sprints, rowing, swimming or heavy punch bag work, you can even expand
to compound lifts such as heavy bag work, where you not only lift with speed
and power, you also slam the heavy bag back down to earth and repeat.
through tabata training it was found
that athletes tested has an increased' VO2 max (the point at which they
get winded) 14% in six weeks. According to the journal of Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, 6 to 8 very hard 20 second intervals with 10 second rest periods may be one of
the best possible training protocols.
Your resting metabolism is higher in the few hours immediately after
exercise as your body adapts to the stresses of the workout. Tabata routines burn
more calories than a longer, easier, session. As your resting metabolism burns
predominantly fat, this means you get fitter and leaner with less training, that’s
good news to many!
The basics of Tabata training is 20 seconds flat out, 10 seconds easy
and repeat.
The routine
Warm up Ten minutes easy shadow boxing or jogging on the spot.
Work period squat down until your thighs are level with the floor,
then explode upwards, leaping as high as you can then land controlled and lightly.
Repeat for 20 seconds.
Recovery period jog for 10 seconds.
Repeat eight times this method isn’t
for the faint of heart, but its simple in principle and yields great results,
so if time is of the essence and you want those gains fast then follow the
wisdom of Dr. Izumi Tabata.
Good luck.
Karl O’Sullivan
