Tabata Training 101 + Full Body Circuit

Get a full-body heart-pumping workout in 20 minutes with these tabata circuits!

Happy Work it Wednesday! I absolutely love tabata training, and consider it to be one of my favorite tools in my fitness toolbox. So what is tabata training, and what makes it so great? Well I’m going to tell you.

Tabata training is a form of high-intensity interval training (HIIT) that consists of 20 seconds of intense exercise followed by a period of 10 seconds of rest. This sequence is repeated eight times through for a total of four minutes. Yes, that’s right – four minutes. In addition to being time-efficient, this type of training is incredibly effective.

In 1997, Dr. Izumi Tabata published a study proving the effectiveness of this type of training. He found the use of high-intensity intermittent training in the 20 second of very intense work to 10 second of rest ratio to be more beneficial in improving anaerobic and aerobic systems of participants in the study compared to other longer periods of work and rest at varying intensities.

Why should you care about this? Because the short circuits of work are so intense, long after you finish your workout your body will still be a lean, mean calorie burning machine thanks to the excess post-exercise oxygen consumption your body needs to be able to recover. It’s important to note that a true tabata should be very intense. For that 20 seconds of work, the exercise should be cardiovascular and done at the highest possible intensity.

One of my favorite ways to incorporate tabatas into my workout routine is as a finisher. A workout finisher is a short burst of intense metabolic exercise to end the workout on a high note and get the metabolism revving. A good finisher should leave you feeling…finished. <– See what I did there?

I also enjoy performing a series of slightly lower-intensity tabata-style intervals back to back to build a complete workout. By stringing together four or five tabata circuits with complementary exercises, I can get a full-body working in about 20 minutes.

Now, its your turn. Below is one of my favorite full-body workouts using tabata intervals. Each round takes four minutes, and I recommend resting for 60-90 seconds between each round. Give it a try and let me know what you think! As always, please consult a doctor before trying new fitness routines.

A few notes on some of the moves:

If you do not have a kettlebell for the swings, feel free to use a dumbbell instead. Simply hold onto the dumbbell on one end so it is vertical. Push your hips back, then swing your hips forward allowing the kettlebell or dumbbell to naturally swing as an extension of your arms.
To perform a dynamic plank, begin in a straight-arm plank on your hands. While keeping your hips still and engaging your core, lower down onto your forearms. Pause, then return to a straight-arm plank. Repeat for 20 seconds.
To perform a thruster, start with your feet about hip distance apart and a pair of moderate dumbbells held at the shoulder. Push the hips back into a squat, then drive up through the heels powering the dumbbells overhead as you stand.

Questions: