Method or Protocol? Tabata as an Experience for Fitness Lovers

In recent years, fitness trends have turned toward high-intensity workouts. Their success comes down to the simplicity of the workouts in terms of equipment, space and complexity, and above all to the speed with which you can get great results by investing just 20-30 minutes a day.

There are many methods you can use for HIIT workouts (high intensity interval training): among them, TABATA is the one that has been most successful, since it is included in numerous programs such as athletic conditioning, CrossFit, functional training and many others.

 

What is TABATA?

The Tabata training method was conceived during a scientific study in 1996 by Dr. Izumi Tabata and his team at the National Institute of Fitness and Sports in Tokyo. His team was analyzing different training protocols in order to find the one that would be most useful for improving athletes’ aerobic and anaerobic conditioning. At the end of the studies, the researchers concluded that traditional steady state training improves aerobic power but does not improve anaerobic capacity, whereas high-intensity intermittent exercise (later dubbed Tabata training) can significantly improve both aerobic and anaerobic conditioning, probably through the intense stimulation of both energy systems.

This method started out as a protocol in which the athlete is asked to perform a 4-minute intermittent workout on a cycle ergometer, alternating 20 seconds of all-out effort with 10 seconds of recovery for a total of 8 cycles. To be valid, the TABATA protocol should be practiced on machines that engage more synergistic muscle chains, since they make it easier to raise heart rate and oxygen consumption; the most suitable are the treadmill, the stepper, the stair climber and the elliptical.

 

TABATA and fitness

As mentioned above, TABATA began as a protocol, but its effectiveness has turned it in very little time into one of the most widespread methods in the fitness world. Countless apps include this method in their workouts because it delivers a lot of results in very little time and, above all, it is convenient for people who train with small equipment or bodyweight, since intensity depends less on the load than on the speed of execution. Jumps, squats, push-ups, jump rope and many other exercises can be used: the important thing is to keep intensity high throughout the 8 cycles of 20 seconds of work and 10 of recovery.

A workout can include 2 to 4 TABATAs, separated by 1 or 2 minutes of recovery, as long as you always do a proper warm-up and a cool-down of at least 5 minutes at the end of the session.

 

Contraindications of the TABATA method

When applying this method, excessive loads are not recommended (no more than 30% of your 1RM), because fatigue should be directed as much as possible at metabolism rather than at muscle groups. High intensity also could make you lose your exercise technique during the all-out moments, the “sprint” phase, and an overload could lead to injuries or premature muscle exhaustion.

 

So should I avoid any kind of load?

No, the advice is to assess your own training level and, above all, the choice of whether to use a load depends on the exercise you are doing. Kettlebell exercises are very often used with this method because they involve functional movements that use large synergistic muscle chains, making it possible to keep intensity high throughout the 4 minutes of training.

Among the many exercises, the most commonly used are certainly:

• Swing
• Snatch
• Clean
• Clean & Press

 

TABATA and weight loss

This method not only brings improvements in metabolism and performance, since it increases aerobic and anaerobic power, but also delivers many results from an aesthetic point of view because it “burns” more fat and stimulates muscle growth. The short recovery intervals put the body under heavy stress while it keeps on exercising. This way, your basal metabolic rate (BMR) speeds up, that is, the rate at which the body uses energy at rest to keep vital functions going.

A study by the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse found that a 20-minute total-body workout using the Tabata method leads men and women to burn 15 calories per minute, a rather significant figure if your goal is weight loss.

Although moderate-intensity aerobic cardiovascular exercise burns more fat during the exercise itself, total energy expenditure, including after exercise, is greater in proportion to the intensity of the exercise. This is particularly significant considering that, even though high-intensity exercise burns more carbohydrates, the calorie expenditure over the several hours following the workout shifts more toward the oxidation of fats rather than carbohydrates, and naturally this increases more after high-intensity exercise. Besides energy expenditure, using this high-intensity method has a positive effect on the hormonal profile because it raises levels of lipolytic hormones such as GH and catecholamines (adrenaline, noradrenaline) to a greater extent and causes a smaller rise in cortisol levels, a hormone that is catabolic for muscle tissue and more sensitive to the duration of exercise.

 

Nutrition and TABATA

This training method requires healthy, balanced nutrition so you can sustain the effort for the whole workout without losing intensity, the real key to TABATA’s success. That is why Eathlon® is a valuable ally for anyone who wants lasting results in the shortest possible time. Thanks to the balance of the foods it suggests you will be able to complete your workouts and recover as quickly as possible, without losing training days to fatigue, which is very often linked to poor, unbalanced eating.

The Mediterranean Diet also includes all the vitamins and minerals you need during your workout and the complete amino acid spectrum to recover as well as possible in the post-workout phase.

 

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Author

MATTEO ZOFFOLI

Graduate in Sport Science, personal trainer, fitness instructor and professional athletic trainer. He is a fitness consultant and an expert in functional training.