With the growth of fast food restaurants and food delivery services around the world, the statistical rate of overweight and obese people is increasing rapidly. This had led to an increase in the prevalence of diseases like diabetes, heart disease, cancer, psychosocial disabilities and even greater economic strain. Various weight loss strategies are in existence to help combat all these. The workout strategies aim at achieving different physiological issues. Obese people can achieve weight loss only through burning more calories than they consume and embarking on a healthy diet. One of the famous weight loss strategies is the Tabata workout.
What is a Tabata Workout?
This is a high-intensity interval training (HIIT). It came about in the 90s through Dr. Izumi Tabata. It entails working out intensively for short intervals of time. These workouts are a form of cardio. Fitness enthusiasts are slowly incorporating this training into their normal workouts. It is equally as effective to do intensive interval training as compared to spending long hours in the gym doing light workouts. Take note that in around four to eight minutes of the day, the Tabata workout achieves more than a day in the gym does. Nevertheless, some exercises share compatibility with the Tabata training such as aerobics and resistance exercises.
What is Tabata Workout Routine?
- A Tabata workout should start with a warm-up session. This warm-up session should be within around ten to fifteen minutes. The cardio aims at speeding up the heart rate in preparation for the Tabata workout. Feel free to do any exercise that quickly speeds up the heart rate.
- Proceed with a Tabata workout for four minutes. The Tabata workout entails the repetition of one exercise for four minutes. This strenuous and quick repetition exercise goes on for around twenty seconds before proceeding to rest up for ten seconds. Some of the popular exercises incorporated into the workout are: jumping jacks, high knees, side skaters, plank punches, jump rope, push-ups, high or low boat, line jumps, lunges, squats, Russian twists, split squats, mountain climbers, and box jumps, among others. As you begin, settle for one exercise per Tabata.
- Continuously do this for four minutes. When calculated you will see that this is done continuously for approximately eight times. The repetition aids in working a single muscle of the body, so switch up the exercises each time you workout. To prevent the body from getting used to the workout and helps to make sure all muscles get special attention.
- With Tabata workout you burn 15 calories per minute. Approximately 300 calories in 20 minutes.
What are the Benefits of Tabata Workouts?
The Tabata workout is a time conscious workout regimen whose adaptability to any workout regimen makes it more appealing. It incorporates both aerobic and anaerobic characteristics. This makes it one of the most effective cardio workouts to burn calories. The training requires a large muscle input, thus mainly involves multi-joint movements. Additionally, it aids in improving and accelerating many other body functions, as outlined below.
- It increases your metabolic rate. This actually means that even after the workout ends, the body continues to burn calories. It also burns fat more than an hour’s workout in the gym. Belly fat is the hardest place to lose fat. You will try and even intensify a series of workouts without achieving your guaranteed result. The Tabata workout is the answer you have been searching. On average, the workout burns about fifteen calories per minute.
- Boosts exercise performance. The Tabata workout delivers results almost instantly. This improves motivation to continue exercising. It additionally helps to boost performance while carrying out exercises. This is because the high-intensity nature of this workout increases the body’s endurance threshold. The endurance threshold not only increases for short exercise activity, but also for long exercise activity like long distance running. This then makes performing exercises much easier.
- Short enough to fit into your busy schedule. The Tabata workout goes on for a maximum of twenty minutes. This means that it is fit for persons with busy schedules. This workout is easily adaptive to any schedule, thus reducing chances of you missing doing it.
- It aids in building muscle. The Tabata workout is essential for fitness enthusiasts who seek to build muscle and lose weight at the same time. Most workouts fail to cater for both of these goals. Gaining muscle while losing weight is one of the hardest mysteries of fitness, but the Tabata workout came in and answered the age-old dilemma.
- The Tabata workout allows a person to pay attention to specific muscles. A trainee can pay specific attention to a certain area of the body, via the exercises. One can do this by choosing the appropriate exercises that fit their body goals. This reduces the chances of gaining body muscle in physiological areas that were not part of the plan.
30 min Tabata workout video for weight loss
Is Tabata Workout Safe?
Jumping into this workout regimen is not advisable for any fitness beginner. This is because it is taxing and the body is not quite used to the strain yet. Thus, a couple of beginner Tabata workouts are available to aid in this. Therefore, beginners too can have both aerobic and anaerobic benefits. They usher the beginner slowly into the strenuous activity and prevent disastrous results. It is also good to note that going about this workout regimen has some slight setbacks to the body, such as:
- Muscle fatigue that can cause loss of hope to those who are mentally unprepared.
- It increases the risk of injury because of high intensity and impact of the exercises, especially for beginners. Therefore, make sure that you are highly prepared for this sought of the workout.
- It is uncomfortable. Embarking on an exercise after the 10second break will be one of the most uncomfortable feelings in your life. Those twenty seconds will seem like the longest. However, remember the saying “No pain, no gain”
As you workout ensure that you eat well. This workout already boosts the metabolism rate thus; ensure that you are full before and after working out. Also, remember to stay hydrated and to have a proper cooling down time afterward. Do not panic if you lose your breath for a substantial amount of time. This is normal for anyone going about the workout. Good luck in your endeavors.