Often when we think of working out, we think that it needs to be long to make it count, but that is far from the truth. I want to explain to you why shorter workouts are better and why you should try Tabata style training.
3 Reasons why shorter, more intense workouts are better:
1) The first one is pretty obvious, you get to spend less of your time working out. Yay!
Because the truth is, “I don’t have time” is generally speaking most people’s excuse for not exercising in the first place.
Enter a workout such as tabata style, and you’ve got yourself an incredibly effective workout in very little time.
2) The second reason to adopt a shorter style workout is that it is much less taxing on your body and hormones. When we exercise for long periods of time our cortisol levels rise which can actually halt weight loss goals and exacerbates autoimmune conditions and well as blood sugar imbalance.
3) The third reason is physiological. We are generally not able to sustain pushing ourselves to our max for a long time, but when we know that we only have to do it for a short period of time, we are more motivated to push through discomfort during our workout and really push ourselves.
A brief history of Tabata Training:
Tabata training was discovered by Japanese scientist Dr. Izumi Tabata and a team of researchers, who studied two groups of athletes.
The first group trained at a moderate intensity level five days a week, for 60 min, for a total of 6 weeks. The second group trained at a high-intensity level four days a week for six weeks; with each workout lasting four minutes and 20 seconds (with 10 seconds of rest in between each set).
The results concluded that the first group increased their aerobic system (cardiovascular), but showed little or no results for their anaerobic system (building muscle). The second group showed even more of an increase in their aerobic system and also increased their anaerobic system by 28%. This showed that the high-intensity training has more impact on both the aerobic and anaerobic systems.
How you can do Tabata Training:
Pick one to 6 exercises that you want to perform. A number of exercises will depend on your current physical stamina and how much time you have for a workout. No matter where you’re at, you’ll be able to experience some positive benefits from this style of training,
Perform each exercise for 20 seconds with a 10-second rest, for 8 rounds. I recommend that you set up an automatic timer such as seconds pro, to make it really convenient.
Tabata workout you can try at home (see video below):
1) Drop down push-ups
2) Regular body weight squat or jump squats
3) Instep Lunge w optional hop
4) Elbow to hand plank
Tabata could be exactly what you’re looking for to spice up your workout routine, or to get you seeing some results quickly. As little as 4 minutes, you can begin seeing changes in your body, stamina, and metabolism.
Enjoy the sweat!
~Daniela Nahas
