Tabata: The Time Saving Fat Burning Machine

Let’s talk fitness. Exercise has always been a big part of my life. Growing up with two very active parents and two also equally active siblings, I didn’t really have the choice to be the odd girl out and take on the role of the family couch potato. To be honest, though, because I started exercising through sports and family activity as such a young age, I love it! It rarely feels like a chore to me. In fact, I will come home exhausted after a day of work and the thing I’m looking forward to the most is a good solid workout!

To me, exercise is an outlet. If I’m having a stressful day, it relieves a lot of that stress. If I’m having a great day, a nice jog outside in the sun makes my day that much better. If I’m feeling sluggish, it boosts my energy. I could go on… but you get the picture. Exercise is a beautiful thing. I’ve experienced both working out at the gym with a gym membership as well as doing home workouts through DVD’s, YouTube, BBG workout guide, and going for a good ol’ fashioned jog outdoors. Both are equally good in my opinion; it just depends on your personal preference.

But sometimes there are those days when the last thing I want to do is workout for a solid 30 minutes, an hour, whatever it might be. It’s just too much and I physically and mentally don’t want to. We’ve all been there. That’s where the beauty of Tabata comes in.

Tabata workouts are a high intensity set of intervals that you perform for 4 minutes; 20 seconds on 10 second rest, repeating this cycle until the 4 minutes is up. In my opinion, it is kind of a mix between interval training and CrossFit. The best part about it? Its only FOUR MINUTES! Yet it reaps many benefits for your body. I won’t go into major detail, you can do more research on your own if you’re interested, but here are the top 4 benefits of Tabata:

1. Burns Fat by raising your metabolism and heart rate extremely quickly and keeps your metabolism kicking long after the workout.
2. Short on time– All it takes is 4 to 8 minutes to get a killer workout in for the day. The best part is it doesn’t require a gym visit. Tabata can be performed without any equipment at all. You can also choose to do Tabata that requires using dumbbells and bands; its up to you.
3. Anaerobic and Aerobic Capacity Increase– provides an increase in your stamina without having to run a million miles to achieve it.
4. Won’t decrease your muscle mass

Now let’s get into some of the different Tabata 4 minute routines you can try:

Sprinting Tabata

• Sprint – 20 seconds work, 10 seconds rest X 8 times

Body Weight Tabata

• Burpees – 20 seconds work, 10 seconds rest
• Mountain Climbers – 20 seconds work, 10 seconds rest
• Jump Squats – 20 seconds work, 10 seconds rest
• Push ups – 20 seconds work, 10 seconds rest

(repeat this cycle once more for two times through totaling 4 minutes)

Dumbbell Tabata

• Bicep Curls: 20 seconds work, 10 seconds rest
• Jump lunges with dumbbells: 20 seconds work, 10 seconds rest
• Squats with dumbbells: 20 seconds work, 10 seconds rest
• Overhead Tricep Extension: 20 seconds work, 10 seconds rest

(repeat this cycle once more for two times through totaling 4 minutes)

As you can see, there is a wide variety of Tabata 4 minute routines you can try. There are SO many more out there than those I listed above. I personally like to look up Tabata workouts on YouTube so that may be a great place to start! As always with any type of intense physical activity, do a 5 minute warm up before and a 5 minute cool down after. If you’re looking to really push yourself, do 2 or even 3 rounds of Tabata for a killer workout. Thanks for reading and have a fantastic Tabata workout!

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