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Today's the Day: Blog

Bottom to Bottom Tabada

Posted: Wednesday, May 6th, 2009

Here's the deal… Today we showed you a new way to do the Tabata. I'll get to the Tabata details in a second... Right now my focus is on walking, from point A to point B in as little pain as possible.

My legs are shot. I love working out to the point of discomfort and a little pain. I like feeling sore the next day. I went a little too far! Here's the situation. As many of you know I was pretty sick for a while and getting to the gym was not my main goal, I just wanted to be healthy again and be able to breath out my nose. I dreaded the fact that I couldn’t get to the gym, but knew it wouldn’t help me get better. So finally this week, I was feeling back to normal and therefore ready to resume my workouts. I should have known to ease into it but I was too excited to get moving and feel like my old self again.

Having just finished taping our new segments, Lauren Scott, a contributor to the Today's The Day segment asked if I wanted to get in a quick workout. I was more than happy to say yes! Lauren knows I like to push pretty hard at the gym, so she was ready to get me cringing. And I have to admit a few foul words did fly out my mouth.

We tired a new version of the Tabata, this time involving a squat. So 20 seconds fast deep squats with a rest period of 10 seconds, only the rest didn’t involved us shaking it off but rather staying in a deep squat. This is repeated 7 more times with no rest. By the end of set number 3 I was ready to throw in the towel, but Lauren pushed me through it. I t was awesome!!! And my legs felt like they weighed 100 pounds each, and more like Jello! We followed up the Tabata with a few other leg burning exercises. Hence, I cannot walk today, cannot even touch my legs to try and massage them out…and can't even think about working out the legs until next week. Hey, always something new to throw in the mix!!!

Here's some details on the Tabata. Also here is Lauren’s contact information: lauren.scott@goodlifemakesiteasy.com

Tabata Workouts are Intense and Effective 20 Second Workout or 20 Second Exercise Routine

If you're short on time but you still want a decent workout routine, a Tabata workout might be for you. Short but very hard and extremely intense is what tabata protocol workouts are all about. The Tabata protocol works so well because it maximizes oxygen consumption with short bursts of focused 20 second exercises.

The Tabata Workout was invented by Dr. Izumi Tabata at the National Institute of Fitness and Sports in Tokyo, Japan. The basic 20 second exercise principle goes like this: A tabata interval is 20 seconds of concentrated work followed by 10 seconds of resting. Eight intervals of one specific 20 second exercise must be completed before moving on to the next. Sound easy? Not! But remember, Dr. Tabata and his group emphasize the fact that "High-intensity exercise cannot be prescribed for individuals at risk for health problems or for obese people who are not used to exercise".

  1. For 20 seconds, do as many repetitions as possible.
  2. Rest for 10 seconds
  3. Repeat 7 more times!

That's what tabata training is all about- This is a short explanation of tabata intervals.

One of the hardest aspects of doing a twenty second tabata workout is staying focused for the whole four minutes. It only takes 6 to 8 very hard 20 second intervals with 10 second rest periods to substantially improve both your aerobic and anaerobic capacity. Dr. Tabata's group did a study to prove this idea. They also found that short-term intense interval training is highly effective in lowering the ratio of lean body mass to fat without compromising your muscle size.

This cardio interval training method is an intense and quick workout routine but very effective.The entire exercise lasts only about 4 minutes if you do it correctly. The rest period can be complete rest or a less intense pace. It is a great way to get a very intense workout in a very short period of time. I'm sure you'll feel like twenty seconds has never felt so long, 10 seconds never so short and four minutes never so painful!

The popularity of exercising with tabata workouts as your core routine philosophy is increasing. The tabata protocol has been used by major members of the Japanese Speed Skating team for several years. The two best exercises for a interval routine are tabata squats and tabata thrusters. Whichever exercise you choose, it should use a large number of muscles to get maximum benefit.

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