Crossfit 101: Tabatas

Doing Tabatas with my siblings on vacation.

What's a TABATA? 

- One 4- minute exercise session consisting of:

- Eight 30 second rounds containing:

- 20 seconds of intense work and

- 10 seconds of rest.

It's that simple! But don't get it twisted, "Simple" and "Easy" aren't the same thing. A 4-minute workout may sound easy-peasy to some of you, but if you do these right, they are intense! Make sure you stretch and warmup before starting, then cool down and stretch again afterward.

You get to choose whether you'd like to do cardio or strength training, but every 20 second work period should consist of one movement.  Should you choose to do several movements within one tabata, make sure the transition can be made easily during the 10 second rest period. I prefer to do no more than 2 movements within one 4-minute tabata session, but some like to change movements every round.

Here are a few suggestions to get those creative juices flowing:

Cardio:

Jump Rope or Jumping Jacks

Burpees

Squat Jumps or Box Jumps

Rowing

Running

Mountain Climbers

Bear Crawl

Strength:

Sumo Dead Lift High Pulls

Kettle Bell Swings

Hand Release Push Ups

Sit Ups or V Ups

Air Squats

Push Press

Pull Ups

And should you decide to be really brave and do more than one tabata, make sure you rest 3 to 5 minutes before starting another.  The idea is to be able to push yourself to the max for each of those 20 second periods.  You'll appreciate that rest and recovery time in between. 

Make sure you have an easy to use stopwatch style timer or a Tabata timer/app, and in less than five minutes, you can get your body burning fat, your muscles working to fatigue and your heart pumping like you just ran sprints. I mean, you can do anything for twenty seconds at a time, right?

For more info on Tabata Training, click the links below:

Shape Magazine

Men's Health

Tabata Pro Online Timer

TabataTraining.Org

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XO,
Fresh Foodie

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