Fitness Friday

It’s no secret that I love to exercise. It’s also no secret that I don’t have time to go to the gym and spend countless hours doing cardio AND strength training.

-----Enter the HIIT, HIR{esistance}T and TABATA----

These are super charged workouts that give you cardio and strength(think tone) benefits and burn major fat. What’s even better is that you really don’t need a lot of equipment- remember my recommendations for 2010- so it can be done at home, outside or at the gym.  Sound too good to be true? Well, it’s not.

If you aspire to look something like this, then read on. BTW, I love Kelly Ripa.

This post does get technical, but bare with me ‘cause there is good stuff in it.

Today I am going to highlight the TABATA. Tabada-who? Say it with me T-A-B-A-T-A:

Aside from burning off pounds and pounds of excess body-fat, Tabata Training can help you:

• Improve your cardio-vascular function (aerobic endurance)
• Improve your anaerobic endurance
• Improve your muscular endurance
• Make you strong and fit and look fantastic

How’s that for a fitness training method?

The Science Behind Tabata

The basis for all of the excitement surrounding Tabata Training comes from the good doctor’s 1996 research study published in the journal – Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise

In that study, Dr. Tabata concluded that high-intensity intermittent training (HIIT) was a much more effective and efficient training method than tradional cardio training.

Not only was Tabata Training more effective at improving anaerobic endurance, it was also more effective at improving aerobic or cardio-vascular endurance.

And Why is Tabata Training so Effective?

Dr. Tabata believed that the reason behind the success of his training protocol was:

INTENSITY

The good doctor believed that exercising at a high level of intensity for a short period of time was more effective than  exercising at a low intensity for a long duration.

And he wasn’t alone.

Ever since Dr. Tabata released the scientific genie from the bottle in 1996, other researchers have built upon his work. Here are just a sample of the available research:

• McMaster University study – 2005
• Another McMaster study – 2006
• And another one – 2008
• A 2007 study showing HIIT is effective at fat loss
• An Aussie study from 2004
• HIIT training and Growth Hormone response
• HIIT training increases capacity for glucose and fatty acid oxidation

So, What is Tabata Training Anyway?

Dr. Tabata’s training method is a very specific version of High Intensity Interval (or Intermittent) Training.

In his 1996 study, Dr. Tabata had seven subjects perform:

• An intermittent training exercise 5 days a week for 6 weeks
• Each individual training session consisted of seven to eight sets of a single exercise
• Each set was performed at the high intensity of about 170% of ˙VO_2max.
• Each set was timed to last for 20 seconds
• Each period of rest between sets was timed to last for 10 seconds

• This means that each Tabata Workout lasted for only 4 minutes.

• 4 minutes of Tabata Training x 5 days a week x 6 weeks = 120 minutes or 2 hours of exercise over 6 weeks

• In comparison, Tabata’s cardio-vascular group performed 30 hours of cardio training over the course of the experiment (60 min workouts x 5 days per week x 6 weeks)

And still, the Tabata workouts were more effective than the cardio-vascular workouts.

How Do I Design My Own Tabata Workout?

I am glad you asked.

Tomorrow I will post two Tabata style workouts.

Each workout is to be performed 2x per week for the next 6 weeks.

I guarantee that those of you willing to give this program a serious effort will see some serious improvements in their physique and their overall level of fitness. By serious effort, I mean watch your diet (like a hawk) too! And, by watching your diet, I don’t mean watching the food go in your mouth! I mean make clean eating choices.

Ok. See you tomorrow!