Are you strapped for time but still want to incorporate exercise into your busy day?  Then read this blog!

Tabata training is a type of high intensity interval training touted as the most intense and effective way to burn fat. And guess what? It only lasts for 4 minutes! But let me warn you that it will probably feel like the longest 4 minutes of your life!

Tabata training was pioneered by Dr. Izumi Tabata. The protocol is as follows:

• 20 seconds: work as hard as you can (“go all out”/extremely intense)
• 10 seconds rest
• repeat 8 times (until 4 minutes has elapsed)

If you train Tabata-style for more than 6 or 7 minutes, you will probably not be pushing as hard as you should during your 20 seconds of hard work. After the 4 minutes are completed, you should have no desire to perform more work. You should be panting when you are finished because it is extremely demanding.

It may be hard to believe that a 4-minute workout is the best method to reduce fat. We have always been taught that spending at least 30 minutes doing steady-state cardio (long aerobic workouts) is the best way to burn fat. Although Tabata does not burn as many calories as a long aerobic workout, it will, however, keep your metabolism elevated for hours afterwards, which burns fat more effectively. Why? During the Tabata workout, you burn off all your glycogen, which leaves only fat for your body to burn. The other bonus of Tabata training: it increases both aerobic and anaerobic capacity.

I recommend you download a free interval timer for your smart phone that has a tabata timer.

An Example of a Tabata workout:

• 5 minutes of warm-up on the treadmill (speed walk, incline walk, or light jog)
• 20 seconds of sprinting on the treadmill as fast as possible
• 10 seconds: rest (dismount to the side decks of the treadmill while holding the handle bars)
• repeat until 4 minutes has elapsed.
• 2 minutes of cool down (walking on the treadmill)

Instead of the treadmill, you could use a spinning bike or an elliptical. Once you have mastered the basics, you can increase the resistance or incline, to get a really good burn. You don’t need fancy cardio equipment to do Tabata. You can do burpees or any exercise that using large muscle groups.

Sara’s Bonus Technique:
After I finish the 11 minute protocol, I rehydrate with water and then I perform some steady state cardio afterwards (10 to 20 minutes). Why? To take advantage of my body’s low glycogen levels and really burn off fat!

Tabata is not a daily workout. Try it once a week if you are a beginner. Do not do it more than 3 times a week. If you are strapped for time, then Tabata is perfect for you!

For your better health,
Dr. Sara Solomon