What is Tabata?

DiabeticDer
DiabeticDer Posts: 21 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
New Tabata class offered at the gym. What is it?

Replies

  • RunnerGrl1982
    RunnerGrl1982 Posts: 412 Member
    DiabeticDer wrote: »
    New Tabata class offered at the gym. What is it?

    I believe that is a form of HIIT (high intesity interval training) workout.
  • pierinifitness
    pierinifitness Posts: 2,231 Member
    8 rounds of 20 seconds work and 10 seconds recovery. Named after person who created it in testing athletic performance of sprinters. The 20 seconds has got to be all out so it’s important to choose correct activity but only after assessing if your conditioning qualifies to to do something like this.

    Aside from sprinting, I thing burpees are great for a quick 4-minute Tabata workout.

  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 31,953 Member
    Strictly speaking, Tabata is not an exercise, its an exercise pacing strategy. As others said, it's a particular variety of high intensity interval training (HIIT).

    Personally, I think it's goofy that there are Tabata classes, because lots of things can be done with Tabata pacing (cycling, running, rowing, etc.) Most of the time, the classes seem to be some kind of calisthenics or circuit training routine.

    They may or may not fit the original technical definition of Tabata or HIIT, but can be good exercise either way.
  • firef1y72
    firef1y72 Posts: 1,579 Member
    Basically it's a high intensity interval training protocol.
    I go to classes and my PT often uses the same protocol in our sessions.
    Its 20sec all out, followed by 10sec rest for 8 rounds. You can use all sorts of different exercises. Sometimes we box, sometimes its sprints, or burpees, squat jumps, scissors or maybe Jacks. I usually feel like I'm dying by the end of the 4 minutes and by halfway through the class or session I hate her, but always have a high by the end knowing I've survived.
  • sgt1372
    sgt1372 Posts: 3,974 Member
    Most "tabata" classes use the actually tabata protocol which was used to measure VO2 max in elite atheletes. If they did, everyone would be entirely wasted after the 1st set.

    Whatever they offer is some sort of interval training but it is almost certainly will be far less demanding than a true tabata routine. So, calling them "tabata" classes is a misnomer and gross misrepresentation.
  • Djproulx
    Djproulx Posts: 3,084 Member
    pierinifitness wrote: »
    8 rounds of 20 seconds work and 10 seconds recovery. Named after person who created it in testing athletic performance of sprinters. The 20 seconds has got to be all out so it’s important to choose correct activity but only after assessing if your conditioning qualifies to to do something like this.

    Aside from sprinting, I thing burpees are great for a quick 4-minute Tabata workout.

    OP, I don't know what a "Tabata Class" is, but we occasionally do Tabata work towards the end of an indoor cycling class. As noted above, it's eight rounds of 20 seconds "all out" and 10 seconds of recovery pace. When done properly, this 4 minute block is extremely challenging.
  • AliNouveau
    AliNouveau Posts: 36,287 Member
    I love tabata. It's perfect for short attention span people like myself
  • Maesneuadd
    Maesneuadd Posts: 61 Member
    I think I will be giving that a miss
  • fishgutzy
    fishgutzy Posts: 2,807 Member
    Tabata can be used in almost any group ex form.
    I have had spinning classes with a Tabata segment. Pretty intense. Got the power meter on the bike up to 600W. Not bad for an old guy.
  • pierinifitness
    pierinifitness Posts: 2,231 Member
    A more tolerable protocol for more people is Sprint 8 as designed by Phil Campbell. After an obvious warmup, 8 rounds of 30 seconds hard work with 90 seconds of recovery. I did these with hill sprints but any kind of running or high-end anaerobic work will work. It’s a more do-able protocol than Tabata, based in my experience.
  • NorthCascades
    NorthCascades Posts: 10,970 Member
    sgt1372 wrote: »
    Most "tabata" classes use the actually tabata protocol which was used to measure VO2 max in elite atheletes. If they did, everyone would be entirely wasted after the 1st set.

    Whatever they offer is some sort of interval training but it is almost certainly will be far less demanding than a true tabata routine. So, calling them "tabata" classes is a misnomer and gross misrepresentation.

    Would you like to go for a gluten free run?

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