The Tabata workout, which lasts around four minutes, is intense and can be a perfect resource for losing weight
Sport, in general, always brings health benefits. Unless we perform the exercises incorrectly, or force our body beyond what it can bear, sport helps our health: giving us strength and endurance , improving our posture and many times, being one of the main vehicles to be able to burn calories.
The union that is formed with the idea of losing weight and sports is complex: there are exercises that make us burn fat , but not gain muscle, others that promote muscle growth and others that require too much time, which we do not have. But, over the years, different methods and trainings have been created to adapt to any person and circumstance.
One of these workouts, which combines the three keys: cardio, strength, and little time, is the Tabata . This method, explains personal trainer Miriam López ( @ mirifitness10 ) is an interval training that consists of “giving as much as possible in a very short period of time.” It is done in the following way: you have to perform 4 and 8 series, according to our physical form. In these sets, you work 20 seconds at “maximum power” and then rest for 10 seconds , until all sets are finished. Ideally, a workout should last four minutes.
The best exercises for the Tabata
Since speed prevails, Miriam López comments that it is best to opt for “very explosive exercises” performed with the weight of our own body , such as burpees, squats or push-ups. “We can add power for some weight, but it must be light,” says the coach, who reiterates that aerobic exercises and without material are the most effective.
Coach Marcos Llorente, from Team Fit Madrid, explained that this type of training “provides an improvement at an aerobic and anaerobic level that few types of training give us, and increases the body’s ability to oxidize both glucose and fat”, for what becomes a perfect option if what we are looking for is not only to gain resistance, but to lose weight . In addition, it is a type of training in which you not only burn a lot of calories during, but also after training, thanks to the so-called afterburner effect .
Where does the Tabata training come from?
In 1996, the Japanese Izumi Tabata published the Tabata protocol: a training formula that was created in his laboratory that was analyzed and refined with the Japanese skating team. At first, the training consisted of just four minutes of exercisemaximum effort cycling with intervals of 20 work and 10 seconds of rest repeated eight times to complete four minutes four times a week. According to Tabata himself, at first the athletes could not exceed four minutes due to the requirement of the protocol. After a month and a half, the athletes who had followed the novel training had increased their anaerobic capacity by 28% and their aerobic power by 15% compared to those who had maintained the aerobic training of one hour of cycling five days a week. There was also a notable loss of fat.
Miriam López comments that, in addition, Tabata training helps us to gain reaction speed, to become able to put our body «from 0 to 100» in a few seconds and try to get our body to recover to start the exercise again as quickly as possible, thus avoiding fatigue.
Precautions and cares
Being such an “intense” training, we must take into account some previous precautions to avoid hurting ourselves and suffering contraindications. The personal trainer points out how essential to carry out a good warm-up before starting the training . “It is essential to warm up to avoid any type of injury, since we are going to put our body into a state of” stress “and doing it cold can be harmful”, he explains.
Finally, it is important to mention all the benefits of this type of training, because although it requires some preparation, it is worth it: On the one hand, it generates a high caloric expenditure, as well as increases the basal metabolism . On the other hand, it is often difficult for us to get into the training routine. With this model, not only does it require little time, but being dynamic and fun, adherence to training is favored.
