I had heard of this Tabata thing for a while – mentioned here and there – but I never gave it much thought. Then I tried it.

The name says it all. Wait, no it doesn’t.

The Tabata Protocol was named after Japanese research er Dr. Izumi Tabata. The workout was developed to increase the performance of Japanese speed skaters. The beauty of the protocol is its simplicity- 20 seconds of all out effort followed by 10 seconds of rest or moderate movement. Repeat that 8 times for a total of 4 minutes. Sounds easy right?

Tabata and his team found that this protocol increased both anaerobic and aerobic pathways at the same time. What the hell does that mean? It means that they improved their cardio vascular systems, which is to say they could perform longer AND they increased their work capacity – so they could also work harder longer.

It was previously believed that these two systems could not be improved at the same time. The aerobic and anaerobic capacities were improved by 14% and 28% respectively. Another study that tested standard steady state running at 70% of aerobic capacity for 60 minutes for the same number of weeks showed an improvement in aerobic capacity of 9.5% BUT ZERO anaerobic improvement. Take a closer look at that – one group exercised for 60 minutes each time, the other group exercised for a total of four minutes each time. I wonder what they got to do the other 56 minutes?

Sure, he looks cool but can he Tabata?

Other timing splits were tested but this 2:1 work to rest ratio outperformed the rest. But here is the coolest part of all – bodyfat seemed to just fall off. The magic comes from the post-exercises fat burn. It is insane how well it works. Since this protocol was first developed advanced trainers have used this secret weapon to melt the fat off clients. There is of course one slight problem.

It is f’ing brutal.

So the other day I thought I would try it- I mean how hard could it be? You don’t need any equipment, bodyweight moves work just fine. Burpees, pushups, heavy bag, jump rope, thrusters, jumping lunges – whatever. I chose the bodyweight squat. With a wall clock in front of me to keep time I went at it.

The trick is to power these suckers out. No slow squatting here, as fast and as deep as you can. I pounded out as many full squats as I could in 20 seconds and then watched the clock for 10 seconds while I rested. No big deal. Another 3 sets in and I was singing a different tune. After 8 sets I was totally melted. I collapsed on the ground and tried to regain my composure. After being fully checked out by the paramedics on scene I was good to go (ok, not really).

Tabata thrusters, oh yeah…

I have been using intervals for a while now, but this is a different world. If anything I am up-playing the brutality of the protocol (I’m just mean that way), and down-playing its effectiveness. It is definitely hard, but it is EXTREMLY effective. For best results vary the exercise selection, and occasionally alternate this with the longer intervals (30 seconds on, 60 seconds off etc.)

This is an excellent addition to any fat loss arsenal.