Tabata: The 4-Minute Fat Burning Method

Tabata is all about short, high-intensity workouts that will help you get fitter, burn fat and even improve your performance.

If I told you that there was a method capable of amplifying fat loss, and in just a few minutes, would you believe it?

What is Tabata?

It is a training system, characterised by very short routines but at maximum intensity, where exercise times are interspersed with pauses, thus remaining:

8 intervals of 20 seconds effective work by 10 seconds of absolute rest.

It was created in Japan by Professor Izumi Tabata, who after his research, proved that:

“…The same results can be obtained by comparing moderate intensity training (70% of VO2MAX) continuously for 60 minutes with HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training)…”

What are the benefits of Tabata?

Reduce Training Time

But this does not mean by any means that the result is less.

Sometimes, time should be used, rather than lengthening a training session.

Intensity is the conditioning factor in this tabata workout!

Reusing Lactate

It allows you to train the quality of reusing the lactate generated by the intensity applied (glycolysis), so that this substance can be used as fuel for other muscles in the body.

A greater number of enzymes specialised in the reconversions of lactate to pyruvate and vice versa are created, promoting the faster clearance of lactate from the muscles, passing through the bloodstream, and deposited in other energy-requiring muscles.

Improving Insulin Sensitivity

That is, greater uptake of glucose by muscle tissue, preventing accumulation in the form of fat.

This is because the highly anabolic hormone insulin is responsible for introducing into the cell the material available in the bloodstream (amino acids, glucose, fatty acids, …).

Increase Anaerobic Threshold

It will basically help us in being able to sustain effort for a longer time for a given high intensity.

This is where the increase in VO2 Max, a magnitude that aims to measure the amount of oxygen a person consumes when exercising, comes in.

If the VO2 Max is high, it means that the person is able to last longer at a high intensity.

Post Combustion Effect

Once the training session is over, everything returns to basal levels.

But obviously the system has undergone a trauma (not drama): a series of changes have occurred at the metabolic level involving subsequent adaptations.

The main effect observed is the oxygen debt must be restored. In what sense? Well, the oxygen is needed for the lactate to be metabolised, to restore ATP, phosphocreatine, glycogen…

Cardiovascular Improvement

And when I mean improvement, I mean a healthier, better trained, stronger heart.

This will, unless we genetically have a myocardial-related condition, be a fortifying weapon to avoid heart ailments such as heart attack.

On the other hand, resting heart rates will drop noticeably, a sign of a trained and efficient system.

Most common exercises

There is little point in using very heavy external weights, such as barbells or dumbbells;

It is preferable to use a moderate weight that will allow us to perform the exercise with correct technique, but that will gradually fatigue us as the repetitions progress.

Tabata Routine

Here are the following routines corresponding to a tabata workout:

Can I do a Tabata routine at home?

Of course you can!

For most of the exercises in the Tabata workout you only need your own body weight + a stopwatch (tabata timer).

Ah, and don’t forget: your music!

Choose your tabata music and there’s only one thing you need to be aware of: perform the exercise as intensely as possible!

Tips for beginners

Tabata is a fairly strenuous activity and, as with HIIT, you need to have a good cardiovascular system if you want to get the most out of it.

Otherwise, it may not be the right activity for us…

But in general terms, if we do a Tabata in conditions the fat loss will be considerable, even if we don’t use up a lot of calories during the session.

Importance of the Warm-Up

The duration of the warm-up is inversely proportional to the duration and intensity of the activity that follows.

How do I know I’m doing it right?

To get the maximum benefit from the Tabata method, you need to apply maximum intensity to each effective work interval.

With these we get a very powerful workout lasting only 4 minutes.

There is no point in simply completing each set if we do not apply a sufficiently powerful stimulus.

When to practise Tabata?

We can plan a Tabata as a “finisher”, at the end of our usual training or weight routine.

On the other hand, on non-training days, or even after performing a LISS exercise (Low Intensity Cardio). This type of training method should not be overestimated, as even the most experienced user may be in for a “surprise”.

References

1. Talisa Emberts, John Porcari, Scott Dobers-tein, Jeff Steffen, and Carl Foster (2013). Exercise Intensity and Energy Expenditure of a Tabata Workout.
2. J LaForgia, R T Withers, C J Gore (2006). Effects of exercise intensity and duration on the excess post-exercise oxygen consumption.

Related Entries

• Is HIIT the same as Tabata? Find out here.
• If you want to learn more about what the Combustion Effect is, I recommend you visit this link.