Do you have the time to go to the gym? Not many people do. Sitting at a desk all day, working overtime, and taking care of kids takes up most of our time. But what about those who are too busy for even short workouts at home?
The good news is that you can get a great workout by doing full-body workouts like HIIT. The best part of it all is that you can do these at home, at the park, or in your office and they’re very effective.
One of my favorite full-body workouts is called Tabata, named after Dr. Izumi Tabata who invented this type of training method in 1996 while he was studying exercise physiology in Japan. It’s been used by athletes to improve cardiovascular fitness and it’s also popular with people trying to lose weight because it requires little equipment and leaves you feeling energized instead of exhausted when you’re done!
Tabata Training:
Tabata training is a form of HIIT. HIIT or high-intensity interval training consists of short bursts (30 seconds) at 100 percent effort followed by rest periods to recover, usually lasting between 60 and 90-second intervals with an average total time commitment ranging from 15 minutes up to 45 minutes depending on how many rounds you do!
Tabata training consists of 20 seconds working then followed by ten seconds rest periods for eight rounds (or four minutes total).
The exercises are typically performed at maximum effort with minimal breaks between repetitions and sets during the “working” period; this requires more oxygen than normal to sustain such an intense level over time so you must take deep breaths while working out! Also, don’t forget to drink plenty of water before starting your workout because dehydration can be dangerous when doing intense workouts over an extended period.
Tabatas can be done using any type or number of reps as longs they’re all completed within these parameters: your heart rate needs to be at 85% of its maximum for the entire workout.
To calculate your target heart rate you need to find your age and then subtract it from 220. Then multiply .85 to get 85% of your maximum heart rate.
So, if you are 30 years old the calculation would be: ((220-30) x .85 = 165 beats per minute. That means a 30-year-old person would need to be at 165 beats per minute during the “working” period.
The best way to do Tabata training is on a stationary bike, elliptical machine, or rower. You can also use weights for the exercises but it’s not necessary as you’ll be doing them at max effort and will get an intense workout!
Although, the best way to do Tabata training is with a cardio machine you can still do Tabata training by using full-body movement exercises. Full-body exercises such as jumping jacks lunge with a twist, mountain climbers, high knees, and burpees.
Full Tabata Working Set Burpees
Start with a 20 second work period. Fill that time doing burpees, mountain climbers, or jumping jacks, and then rest for 10 seconds. As soon as the 10-second rest is over, start the next 20 second work period.
Repeat this for a total of four rounds, and then rest one minute before starting again with another four rounds.
You can do this for a total of eight minutes, or you could break it up into two four-minute sets with a one-minute break in between.
Here’s an example:
In this example, we’re going to be doing 2 rounds of Tabata training using jumping jacks.
Round 1:
20 seconds of jumping jacks.
10 seconds rest.
20 seconds of jumping jacks.
10 seconds rest.
20 seconds of jumping jacks.
10 seconds rest.
20 seconds of jumping jacks.
10 seconds rest.
1-minute rest.
Round 2:
20 seconds of jumping jacks.
10 seconds rest.
20 seconds of jumping jacks.
10 seconds rest.
20 seconds of jumping jacks.
10 seconds rest.
20 seconds of jumping jacks.
10 seconds rest.
Key TakeAways
Tabata is a specific HIIT program where the work-to-rest period is defined as 20 seconds work followed by 10 seconds rest, repeated 8 times for a total of four minutes. That four-minute is one set. You can do as many or as few sets as you want, depending on your fitness level as well as your workout frequency.
