"Excellence is a Habit"

Mr. Tabata and I have a love-hate relationship.....

Is Four Minutes of Exercise sufficient for fat burning?

Tabata Training was developed by Izumi Tabata at the National Institute of Fitness and Sports in Tokyo, Japan. Tabata training consists of 20 seconds of high intensity exercise, followed by 10 seconds of rest, repeated 8 times.

A 6-week study comparing VO2 max levels (the highest amount of oxygen a person can consume during exercise - denoting cardiovascular efficiency) and anaerobic capacity (the first system the body uses to generate energy for work - think of sprinters as using anaerobic system while marathon runners using their aerobic system) between moderate intensity exercise and intense intermittent exercise (tabata training) was conducted. The study discovered that the moderate intensity group increased VO2 max levels 10% but the training had no effect on anaerobic capacity. However, the intense exercise grouped improved VO2 max levels 14% and had a 28% improvement in anaerobic capacity. It is important to know that each group exercises 5X a week. For the tabata training group, this means 20 minutes in a week of exercise to see such vast improvement.

Tabata training can be performed with any exercise but I find it best to incorporate whole-body movements. A sample program could be:

20 sec speed squats
10 sec rest
20 sec thrusters
10 sec rest
20 sec box jumps
10 sec rest
20 sec high knees
10 sec rest
20 sec speed squats
10 sec rest
20 sec thrusters
10 sec rest
20 sec box jumps
10 sec rest
20 sec high knees

The goal being to go all-out for the 20 seconds of work. As fast, as hard and as many reps as you can! This workout will leave you breathing and sweating for an extended period of time after the workout...... fat burn!

Exercise tip: try this at home with an exercise that requires no equipment! Pushups, High Knees, Jumping Jacks, Wall Acceleration Runs...
Nutrition tip: Have you checked out www.allicain.myvi.net yet? Great, tasty products that can help you work towards your fitness goal.
Song: Florence and The Machine "Shake it Out" (Benny Benassi Remix)

source: http://www.squidoo.com/tabatatraining