Tabata Training for Fat Burning

Tired of being overweight? Sick of not being able to wear the clothes you want to wear?  Ready to change? One good way to burn fat and build lean muscle is by using the 4 minute Tabata Workout.

The Tabata Game Plan:

You’re going to do twenty seconds—yes, I said twenty seconds—of really, really, really intense aerobic exercise. Then you’re going to stop and do nothing at all for all of ten seconds.

Then you’re going to do your exercising again, and keep it ramped up to the ultimate level—for all of twenty seconds. Then you get ten seconds to get back to feeling like a human again. And then you’ll be doing that maximum intensity stuff again, for twenty more seconds, and when the timer gets off, you catch your breath—for exactly ten.

Keep on with this rhythm, until you’ve done 8 rounds of twenty-second bursts of fat torching radically intense exercise.

Creating The Anaerobic State

In the past, fitness experts have advocated the “fat burning zone,” which, basically equates to 1 hour of steady cardio, such as on a treadmill or exercise bike.

This slow methodical cardio process had become old news since science has shown that intense work intervals followed by short rest periods is what facilitates what is known as the anaerobic state, and this exact state is what allows for the most fat burning.

Anaerobic literally means “without oxygen,” where you will be gasping for breath, and often feel like you are unable to catch your breath. This is the ideal zone for fat burning, increasing endurance and stamina and strength training for the muscles. In the Anaerobic state the body begins to use fat for energy instead of carbs, which are typically what is used in long, steady-state endurance exercise.

HIIT is one of the most well-known and widely used protocols to create this anaerobic state, though, Kettlebell training does it as well. But, Tabata really takes it up a few notches and includes some of the most gut wrenching, breath catching moves with the shortest workout time that results in maximum fat loss, extreme metabolism boost and consequent calorie burning for hours after the workout is over.

EPOC And Metabolism

The practice of alternating short recovery periods with maximum effort allows the body to push itself beyond its perceived threshold, and that initiates a chemical response and neuro-endocrine reaction.

Elevating the metabolic rate is the key to burning body fat! Contrary to what so many people focus on, the goal is not so much the calories or fat burned during the workout, but, what is burned continuously after the workout.

And the only way to use fat as energy during the workout is with intense intervals that raise the resting metabolic rate. During very intense bursts the heart rate soars and as you struggle and gasp for air you will naturally react by taking in more oxygen in the rest periods and this extra oxygen is what will raise the metabolic rate. This process is known as excess post-exercise oxygen consumption (EPOC).

Tabata is the fastest and shortest workout option to create EPOC, and the anaerobic state, which, is so effective at torching body fat.

Choosing The Right Moves For Tabata

What exercise you choose to do will depend on your personal physical state and what you’re comfortable with. The type of exercise you do for a Tabata session has to be one that you are very familiar with, and very good at.

Still, if you’re not good at any exercise, don’t worry. You can teach yourself anything. What you’ll have to do is to do some mock-up Tabata sessions at a more normal level, just to get yourself used to the way it works.

Form is very important in body weight exercises, and if you start by trying to go fast, or aim for too much intensity outside of your fitness level, you’ll lose out in form and the exercise will be of little value - and you may even injure yourself.

Burpees

One good exercise to use with the Tabata protocol is burpees—they’ll give you a full-body workout with no extra equipment.

1.    You start out standing straight and tall, hands stretched over your head.

2.    Then get down into a squat, hands down on the floor, and from there go into a plank. 

3.    Go down all the way, like the lower side of a push up; push yourself up, then jump back up to the squatting position and back up to standing. 

4.    Then one quick jump up, and you’re ready to begin again.

Here's what it looks like: 

If you haven’t done burpees before, or it’s been a long time since you’ve done them, start by just doing four or five of them slowly, keeping good form. Tomorrow do ten, and the day after that, fifteen.

When you feel comfortable with the rhythm of this exercise and can do it pretty fluently you’re ready to incorporate it in an all-fire intense Tabata workout.

There are many other moves that can be done, some of which are simpler, and some are more completed. Even jumping jacks and sit ups can work in Tabata when they are executed in fast and continuous reps for the full 20 seconds.

Timing

You’ll need a stopwatch or some way of measuring seconds. A free Tabata app on your smartphone—there are several to choose from—is an easy way of getting it done.

When the counter starts, start doing burpees as if your life depended upon it, as if there was an atomic bomb about to go off and blow you and your loved ones to bits if you did any less than the maximum number.

When twenty seconds are up, stop. Wait ten seconds, and then go at your fastest, most intense pace again for twenty more seconds.

When you’ve done eight twenty-second sessions you’ll have completed your fat-torching Tabata workout routine - and you'll continue burning fat all day!