All About Tabata Workouts: Beginners Guide of Effective Weight Loss and Total Body Workouts

Your mornings are busy, you hardly have time to work out for an hour, all you can do is grab a quick breakfast and make a dash for work! Well, if you are nodding your head in consent, then Tabata Workout training is tailor-made for you! Why, if you may ask? Well, it is simple really; you get the benefits of an effective workout within a space of fifteen to twenty minutes. For someone who is always starved for time, or for someone who detests long duration workouts, you should go for the fast and furious Tabata. It is stupendously fast, mind-blowingly effective, and it is also super fun. So what’s not to like about it? Clearly, nothing! If you have been exercising for long hours and still not getting the results you want, you need to change your exercise pattern and introduce yourself to the exciting world of Tabata HIIT workouts.

Benefits of Tabata Workout – Get into High-Intensity Mode

If you are you still harboring any doubts about its effectiveness, you will be amazed to know that there are other benefits of this workout which you simply cannot ignore. Check out the following and know the reasons why you absolutely must include Tabata in your workout regime. What is Tabata workout? It is the higher version of high-intensity interval training (HIIT). The protocol is fairly simple; it includes eight rounds of ultra-high-intensity exercises in a specific 20-seconds-on, 10-seconds-off format.

The beauty of a full-body Tabata workout is that you can complete a workout in four minutes flat. But for all of those four minutes you will be left panting, gasping for air, a sweaty mess and certainly not a pretty picture, or for that matter, a handsome picture.

If you are hooked on to Tabata and find the all-new world of Tabata fascinating, then you have got to thank the Japanese scientist Izumi Tabata and his colleagues for this workout. They did their maths and found this form of workout to be more effective than steady state cardio. They tried this protocol on two groups of speed-skating athletes.

The scientists’ results concluded that the athletes who completed high-intensity training in four weeks saw a rapid increase in aerobic and anaerobic system capacities. In comparison, the group who did moderate-intensity workouts did not see improvement in anaerobic performance.

It is a compilation of cardio exercises to lose belly fat and also get rid of the fat accumulated in other parts of the body. It sounds way too simple to move or convince a purist who has followed the traditional way of exercising for ages, but it is a science-backed method, so read and find out whether it suits you and its numerous benefits.

• A workout fashioned for super busy people – Tabata is the best workout for a super busy schedule. If you are time-strapped and have been unable to squeeze a workout in the morning, you can fit in a workout even during your lunch break; or if you have an invitation knocking at your door and you need to get into shape and fast at that, then a Tabata style workout can come in pretty handy. Research has shown that if you can pack in as little as a 20-minute Tabata workout then you can get more results than your hour-long jog on the treadmill. It improves your aerobic capacity to the maximum. If you find time to do at least Tabata 4 minute workout three times a week, you will get results you never dreamed possible. Even after you have finished your Tabata strength workout, your body gets onto a fat burning overdrive and keeps burning fat and calories for 24 hours after the workout.

• It is a heart-healthy workout- Tabata workout routines aren’t the easiest, as they test your endurance and help you reach the anaerobic zone. The anaerobic zone is the zone where you are pushed to the extreme and become completely breathless, your heart hammering hard. That’s not a very comfortable place to be in, and most people who exercise dread this, but it does fetch fast results and increases your endurance power and stamina several notches higher than would be otherwise possible.
• A no –equipment workout- Are you someone who is not exercising because you can’t join a gym? Well, don’t hide behind excuses, as you can do the Tabata workout routine at home and what’s more, you can do the exercises without any equipment.  Exercises like running, jogging, biking, rowing, and using a jump rope are all wonderful options for a Tabata core workout, but the best part is that you can have an effective interval workout without any equipment. High knees, plank jacks, mountain climbers’ fast feet or a plyometric workout like jumping lunges gets your heart rate up really fast.
• Helps you lose fat, not muscles- If you are on a mission to lose fat and not muscles, then you must try 10-minute Tabata workout weight loss routines. If you are on a diet, you will know that it is very difficult to hold on to muscle mass, and at the end of it, you end up losing both fat and muscle mass.  Slow cardio for a long duration aides muscle loss, whereas studies prove that both weight training and Tabata cardio workouts help you lose fat but hold on to muscles, now isn’t that we all want? It is absolutely the best situation to be in.
• Stimulates Human Growth Hormone – In addition to increased fat burning and better preservation of muscles, Tabata style workout activates the production of your human growth hormone (HGH) by as much as a whopping 450 percent even after the 24 hours you round off your workout. HGH has a number of benefits as it accelerates calorie burn and also stalls the aging process, making you feel young both inside and outside.
• Intense workout- The Tabata workout is intense; there is no doubt about it. You will be left huffing and puffing. You won’t be bored, you will be gasping for air and you will give it your all for those few minutes you will be working out for. Short and intense; that’s how you would describe a total body Tabata workout.

Start with the Workouts

The best part of a Tabata bodyweight workout is that you can do it anywhere; you don’t particularly need any equipment, just a mat, and a timer to keep a track of the time and you are pretty much good to go.  The intensity of the workouts can leave you breathless and the harder you go, the better the results. So have a go at the following workouts and see whether the full body Tabata workout with weights or without weights work for you.

• Tabata training #1

You’ll be doing 8 rounds of 2 minutes each, for a total of 16 minutes. Each one of the 8 rounds includes a 20 second of exercise and a ten-second break.

• Push-ups
• Squats
• Frog leaps
• Star Crunches

That’s a total of 2 minutes. You need to repeat this round another 7 times, to complete your 16-minutes of exercise.

Interval Training #2

Use an interval timer to keep it 50 seconds on and 10 seconds off. This 12-minute Tabata HIIT workout routine gives you the best option for an effective fat burning session.

• High Knees
• Sumo squats
• Mountain climbers
• V-ups
• Squat jumps
• One-legged push-ups

(Repeat twice through)

• Tabata Training no #3

Start with warming up with some jumping jacks, bodyweight squats, butt kicks, and high knees for 3 to 5 minutes.  Repeat each exercise 12 times. Start increasing the number of repetitions to 20 mins.

• Explosive sumo squat
• Tap up your shoulder
• Power Thrust
• Plank plié
• Laterals
• Single- Arm Iso Hold
• Tuck Jump

Get your Form Right

A tabata workout is fast and furious; you sweat a lot and hardly have time to catch your breath.  But some people sacrifice form in order to reach that heart-racing intensity. That is where you can go wrong. A bad form cannot give you the results you want.  know more about these exercises and how you can get your form right.

1. Explosive Sumo Squats – Stand with feet wider than shoulder-width apart, toes turned outwards. Keep your torso straight and push knees out over toes to get down into a squat position. Jump up with force pointing through toes. Land softly and repeat the exercise. This is a great exercise to include in your Tabata HIIT workout regime.
2. Power Thrust – Start right at the top of the push-up position. Take 3 seconds to lower your chest to floor, and then push back up forcefully. At the top position of the move, tap gently the left shoulder with right fingertips. Return your hand to the floor. Repeat the move, this time, tapping right shoulder with left fingertips. That’s 1 rep.
3. Plank Plié’- Lower your body down and place hands on the floor below shoulders. Jump feet back to land in the top of a push-up position. Jump feet back to start and jump up with force, raising fingertips to the sky. Land softly and repeat.
4. Laterals – Begin in a low plank position with elbows under shoulders and toes tucked. Raise hips and drive right knee forward in an attempt to reach the knees. Return hips and foot to plank position. Repeat with the other knee. That’s completing one rep.
5. Single arm iso-hold – Lower into a half squat and jump up with force and over to your right. Land softly and repeat to the left. That’s 1 rep.
6. Truck jumps- Stand with heels shoulder-width apart, toes turned out slightly outwards, arms on top of one another in front of the chest. Squeeze hips back to lower into a squat. Go as low as you can but do not lose the natural curve of your lower back. Jump up as high as you can, tucking the knees to the chest. Land softly and repeat.
7. High knees -Bring your left knee toward your chest and try to keep it as high as possible, then immediately bring it to the ground and replace it with your right knee. Try and keep your body as tight as possible and use your arms to pump and move you as fast as you can, almost like you were sprinting. Keep it intense and fast.
8. Frog Leaps-For the frog jump exercise, stand straight with feet shoulder width apart. Move into a squat, as low as possible and then leap forward. You should jump at least one foot forward. You have to continue and do as many as you can.
9. Star Crunches-This is an awesome exercise which targets your entire ab area! Start lying on your back with a medicine ball in hands; you can do the exercise without a medicine ball too. Keep your legs straight up and feet to the ceiling.  Try and lift your upper body up off the ground and crunch into your legs as you widen your legs into a wide star and bring the medicine ball between your legs. Release back and get back to starting position.
10. Mountain Climbers- You start by getting into the plank position and without letting your foot touch the ground, bring your knee up to your chest. Return it and repeat with the other knee. Do this over and over again as fast as you can in bursts of about 30 seconds or more. Don’t keep your hips high; rather keep them low as you do for a plank.
11. V-Ups – Lie down on your back on a mat and then extend your arms behind your head. The back of your hands should touch the floor while your palms face the ceiling. Keep your feet together and your toes pointed toward the ceiling. To start the exercise, keep your legs firm and straight and lift them up, and at the same time raise your upper body off of the floor and reach for your toes with your hands. Tighten your abdominal muscles as you reach for your toes, and then slowly lower yourself back down to the starting position to complete the first repetition.
12. Squat Jumps – Start with your feet a bit wider than shoulder-width apart. Put your hands behind your head with your fingers interlocked. The direction of your jump will be high and vertical. Start by standing tall, then come down into a squatting position with your thighs slightly higher than your knees. Quickly explode into the air for maximum height. In mid-air, your body should be as straight as a stick, so keep your form correct. Land in the squat position and pause for a moment.

The Tabata cardio workout method basically cannot be your main workout method. You cannot do it every single day! At most, you can do it thrice a week. Tabata training can enhance your VO2max (oxygen capacity) and your anaerobic capacity. Also, the Tabata method forces you to push hard for a stipulated period of time, for that time period you have to really really push yourself!