I have written about the Tabata protocol in past posts. The structure looks like like this.
8 Rounds of:
20 seconds of intense work
10 seconds of rest
Dr. Izume Tabata’s research published in 1996, on short, intense intervals. Dr. Tabata and his colleagues at the National Institute of Health & Nutrition, Tokyo, Japan, reported: “[Six to 8 very hard 20 second intervals with 10 second rest periods] may be one of the best possible training protocols… The rate of increase in VO2max [14% in only 6 weeks] is one of the highest ever reported in exercise science.” What’s more, anaerobic capacity increased by a whopping 28%.
So you don’t have time to workout? How about Tabata burpees in the garage? You can Tabata any exercise- push-ups, jumping squats, sprints, bike intervals, jump rope and etc. The possibilities are endless. Now, they are hard as heck, but you can get a lot of benefit from just 4 minutes using this structure.
Perhaps the most puke provoking way to do Tabata’s is Thrusters. Thrusters are really hard as it is, much less done in this interval style.
Here is a video of the Mrs. totally crushing the thrusters with the 35 lb DB’s! I challenge any swinging Johnson to try and match her. A heads up fellas- it hurts!
I know what you’re thinking- only a real man could tame such an Amazonian wild woman. You know what? You’re right!
RM
