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| Tabata Something Else
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| The Tabata Protocol is a high-intensity training regimen that produces remarkable results. You can make every precious moment of your workout time at the club count, but you better be prepared to kiss your mama goodbye in the process.
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Take the guesswork out of high-intensity exercise by adopting the universally acclaimed Tabata Protocol, an Olympian-style training regime that provides immediate results far exceeding those derived from endurance training.
A workout that is extraordinarily brief in duration, the Tabata Protocol consists of six to eight high-intensity reps with a brief rest period between each.
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Here’s the drill: Run, jump, skip or cycle at maximum intensity for 20 seconds, then rest for 10 seconds. Repeat six to eight times. It’s done and over in less than five minutes, but its effects will be felt long afterward.
“The Tabata Protocol provides a strong stimulus to improve your cardiovascular fitness with a very short duration workout,” says Dr. Alexander Koch, associate professor of Health and Exercise Sciences at Truman State University in Kirksville, Missouri.
“More studies are now revealing that exercise intensity, rather than frequency and duration, is the key variable behind improvement in maximum oxygen consumption (Vo2max).”
Credit for this deceptively simple training method belongs to Dr. Izumi Tabata and a team of researchers from the National Institute of Fitness and Sports in Tokyo, Japan.
Their groundbreaking 1997 study, published in Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, provided documented evidence concerning the dramatic physiological benefits of high-intensity intermittent training.
The realization that just four minutes of interval training does more to boost aerobic and anaerobic capacity than one hour of endurance exercise, sent coaches everywhere scurrying back to the drawing board.
“While the Tabata Protocol is short, it’s by no means an ‘easy way out’ of exercise,” comments Dr.Koch. “The routine is brutally intense, and as such requires a high degree of discipline to complete on a regular basis. Rating how difficult this is, relative to a more conventional (longer) aerobic training regime is largely a matter of personality. I suppose strength-power athletes, who typically train with high intensities for shorter durations would find the Tabata Protocol a more palatable way to improve their cardiovascular fitness. Conversely, endurance athletes, who enjoy long-duration exercise, might prefer a more traditional workout.”
Dr.Koch suggests performing the Tabata Protocol twice weekly, particularly for beginners, who are also advised to do less than the prescribed six to eight sprints.
He recommends adopting the following schedule:
- Monday: Tabata sprints.
- Wednesday: Slow duration exercise at the club such as the stationary bike for 20 or 30 minutes, performed at 65 to 70 per cent of maximum heart rate.
- Friday: Tabata sprints.
“This type of schedule could be maintained fairly regularly and would be sufficient to yield significant improvements in fitness,” says Dr.Koch.
“The Tabata Protocol presents a high potential for psychological burnout. Even though the program is short in duration, the physical discomfort associated with performing maximal sprints may make the sessions unpleasant enough for some to make it not worth performing. If that is the case, you may enjoy longer duration lower-intensity aerobic exercise for similar aerobic benefits.”
Any form of cardiovascular exercise can be tailored to fit the Tabata Protocol, so feel free to be creative. Use it with a jump rope, heavy bag, treadmill or rowing machine. Lessen the likelihood of injury by choosing a rate of intensity suited to your level of conditioning.
Dr. Tabata himself has issued cautions, noting that Olympic athletes have been known to collapse on the floor at the end of their sessions.
Heart of a Champion:
Given the incredibly demanding nature of the Tabata Protocol, Dr. Koch advises beginners to gradually work their way up to eight sprints per session. Here’s the training schedule he prescribes, based on the two Tabata workouts per week model:
- Week One: Four sprints on day one, four sprints on day two
- Week Two: Five sprints on day one, four sprints on day two
- Week Three: Five sprints on day one, five sprints on day two
- Week Four: Six sprints on day one, five sprints on day two
- • And so on until you reach the goal of eight sprints each session by week
nine. If you miss some training time (travel, illness, etc.), Dr. Koch suggests
scaling back to five or six sprints
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