Tabata training improves cardiovascular, metabolic and skeletal muscle functions
Tabata is the latest in HIIT (high-intensity interval training) that’s become a rage not just among athletes, but also among regular exercisers and celebrities. Originally developed by Dr Izumi Tabata in Tokyo, the regime involves exercising for 20 seconds followed by a 10-second rest, repeated eight times. One can do Tabata training with weights or follow simple body-weight exercises.
The regime: First choose the type of exercise regime you will follow, the body-weight calisthenics type or with weights or a combination of both. Choose about 10 to 15 exercises, depending on the time in hand and your own fitness level.
Start with a short warm up and then alternate between the workouts and rest-periods for eight cycles. During the workout session, exercise continuously and as rigorously as you can for the entire 20-second period. During the rest periods, stop, catch your breath and get ready for the next workout span. Remember to always kick-start with a warm up routine and cool down with stretches.
HIIT for dummies: High-Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) aka High-Intensity
Intermittent Exercise (HIIE) or Sprint Interval Training (SIT) is an enhanced form of interval training, an exercise strategy, which alternates periods of short, intense anaerobic exercise with less intense recovery periods. It is thus a form of cardiovascular exercise.
A usual HIIT session may vary from 4-30 minutes. These short, intense workouts lead to an improved athletic capacity and condition, enhanced glucose metabolism plus a better fat-burning rate.
Benefits:
The major goals of any exercise programme are to improve the cardiovascular, metabolic and skeletal muscle functions within the body. Statistics reveal that HIIT leads to similar or rather better improvements in record less time. Therefore, HIIT offers an efficient way to reach the pre-set objective of an avid fitness enthusiast.
Burn More Fat: Not only do you burn more calories during HIIT workouts, but the effect of all that intense exertion also puts your body’s repair cycle into hyperdrive. This means you burn more fat and calories in the next 24 hours after a HIIT workout than you do, say, after a steady-paced run.
Healthier Heart: Most people aren't used to pushing themselves into an anaerobic zone (where one can't breathe smoothly and feels as if the heart is trying to jump out of his/her chest). But in this case, extreme training produces extreme results.
Sample exercises: Burpees/side to side burpees, high knees, plyometric lunges/alternate lunge jumps with wood chops, mountain climbers single leg/double leg, high bench alternating step ups/skip overs/lunges, plank walk up to push up, triceps dips, hang clean (45 lbs bar), kettle bell swings (26 lbs), Bosu ball on/offs, spiderman on the Bosu, jump to monkey chin up, hockey jumps.
Tips:
Do Tabata training in the morning to raise your metabolism and burn more fat throughout the day.Alternate exercises if you wish to give your workout some variety. For example, you may do squats in the first workout period and then switch to jumping jacks in the second one, only to shift gears between the two.
Find a good Tabata timer. Start off light. Treat your first few Tabata workouts as practice sessions and ease into the routine like a seasoned pro.
Precautions: To start any exercise programme afresh requires a lot of careful progression. Beginning with a heavy-duty HIIT may increase the chances of injury and muscle soreness. So a better approach would be to let the body go with the flow by first getting accustomed to a continuous, low-intensity exercise and then gradually moving on to the HIIT regime.
Research proves that thrice-a-week workouts may produce the best results, thereby warding off injuries. Since HIIT pushes the body hard, it’s imperative to recover fully in-between sessions.
