Tabata Workout was discovered by a Japanese scientist Dr. Izumi Tabata and his team of researchers from the National Institute of Fitness and Sports in Tokyo. They conducted a study which concluded that high-intensity interval training has more impact on both the aerobic (cardiovascular) and anaerobic systems (muscle).
Each exercise in a given Tabata workout lasts only four minutes. By taking short rest periods at only half the time of the high impact intervals (a 2:1 work-to-rest ratio), your body is forced to perform without a full recovery.
Check out some of our effective Tabata workouts:
#1: Jumping Lunges
Start by stepping your right foot forward into a deep lunge, until your leg is parallel with the ground. Then jump, bringing your back (left) foot forward and landing in a lunge. Tip: You can step through each lunge if jumping gets too hard.
#2: Box Jumps
Find a weight bench or a plyo box or a stepper that hits somewhere between your shins and your knees. Stand in front of it and jump off of both feet to the top of the bench. Jump back to the floor, again with both feet together. Try not to rest when you land and jump right back up again. If this is too difficult, you can do step-ups onto the box instead.
#3: Burpee
Start standing, then crouch to a low squat position with the hands on the floor. Then, kick feet back to a plank, then down into the bottom of a push-up. Push off the ground and quickly return to the squat position. Jump up as high as possible before squatting down again and jumping back into the next push-up.
#4: Dumbbell Squat
Hold a dumbbell at the center of the chest and do a basic front squat. Place feet a little wider than shoulder-width apart, hips stacked over knees, knees over ankles. Inhale and unlock the hips, bringing them back as the knees begin to bend. Keep the chest and shoulders upright, and continue until the hips are slightly less than 90 degrees from the ground. On the way back up, engage the core and drive through the heels to return to standing.
#5: Kettlebell Swing
Stand up straight, with feet a bit wider than hip-distance apart. Grab hold of the kettlebell with both hands, keeping the palms face down and arms in front of the body. Keep the knees slightly bent and drive the hips and bell back (it’s not a squat, so the knees shouldn’t have to bend that much), lowering the body just a bit to an athletic stance. In one fluid motion, explosively drive the hips forward while swinging the kettlebell, engaging the glutes and core.
#6: Mountain Climber
Make a triangle with your hands and feet on the floor with your butt up in the air. Bring one leg up towards your chest similar to a sprinter’s start position. Keeping your hands on the ground, jump to switch your legs. Just quickly touch each toe down in front so you’re not resting by putting your whole foot down.
#7: Bike Sprints
Bikes are perfect for engaging your whole lower body and skyrocketing your heart rate for those 20 seconds. It’s a little easier to time and to rest on a stationary bike—you can just take your feet off the pedals for 10 seconds rather than trying to start and stop/coast on the road.