How To Become a Beast Athlete with Tabata Training

Unlike many crossfit athletes would like us to believe, tabata training has been around since 1996 when Professor Izumi Tabata conducted a study which concluded that 20 seconds of hard exercise followed by 10 seconds of rest then repeated several times improved anaerobic capacity and VO2 Max. More importantly than the proven improvement in exercise performance, tabata training is just fun!

Incorporating tabata into your endurance training

The standard tabata is 8 rounds of 20 seconds of hard exercise followed by 10 seconds of rest, totaling 4 minutes. This standard protocol can be used in various ways which will be explained below.
As far as fitting tabata training into your current training protocol, there are several ways however I’ve found that tabata training is best implemented in these two circumstances:
1. When you only have 30 minutes or less to devote to a workout.
2. You would like to organically fit tabata into your weekly training, such as a bike commute.

Tabata workout examples:

RUN TABATA: (best done on a track)

Warm-up: 5 minutes slowly increasing intensity

Main set: Sprint 20 seconds as hard as humanly possible while still maintaining good running technique then walk 10 seconds, repeat 8 times for a 4 minute tabata. Recover from the first tabata with a 4 minute jog then repeat 1-2 more times.

Cooldown: 5 minutes slowly decreasing effort

BIKE TABATA: (Taken from Top 5 Bike Workouts for the Time Crunched Triathlete)

Warm-up 15-20 minutes.

Main Set: Complete 20 seconds hard, 10 seconds easy for a total of 4 minutes. The 20 seconds of effort must be as hard as possible. Recover easy for 10 minutes. Repeat the Tabata set 1-2 more times.

Cooldown: 5 minutes slowly decreasing effort

BODYWEIGHT TABATA:

Warm-up: 3-5min of easy cardio (running, biking, rowing, etc) followed by foam rolling, leg swings, and 60 second of jump rope.

Main set: After completing 1 Tabata set for the first exercise, rest 60 seconds, then move on to the next exercise:

Tabata set squats

Tabata set push-ups

Tabata set sit-ups

Tabata set lunge-jumps

Cooldown with some light cardio and stretching.

GYM TABATA:

Warm-up: 3-5min of easy cardio (running, biking, rowing, etc) followed by foam rolling, leg swings, and 60 second of jump rope.

Main set: After completing 1 tabata set for the first exercise, rest 60 seconds, then move on to the next exercise:

Tabata set dumbbell squats

Tabata set dumbbell chest press on a stability ball

Tabata set decline sit-ups

Tabata set on a rowing machine

Cooldown with some light cardio and stretching.

The Bottomline

Tabata training provides a short yet intense workout routine that is extremely convenient, easy to remember, and can be done virtually anywhere! Add it to your tool bag of workouts and be sure to check out our other free swim, bike, run, and strength workouts.