4min Tabata - how many times a week?

susy99
susy99 Posts: 82 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
I am doing the 30 day shred, today is day 1 for level 2 and for the past few days I have been doing tabata, a 4 min intense cardio workout: 20 seconds of all-out effort (I'm usually out of breath at this stage) followed by 10 seconds of rest and repeat this cycle 8 times. I usually do mountain climber and burpees.

How many times is ok to them? is it ok to do them everyday? thx

Replies

  • mishtery
    mishtery Posts: 148
    I haven't done it, my friends have though. I just found this though, hope it helps http://tabatatraining.org/
  • Smuterella
    Smuterella Posts: 1,623 Member
    I have the same question. Did my first tabata today though admittedly not at full intensity and was wondering if it is something I could do every other morning or if it should be alternate days.
  • sel254
    sel254 Posts: 273 Member
    I'm planning on starting it myself and am also doing the Shred. Will be interesting to see what the responses are :)
  • mrob81
    mrob81 Posts: 36
    You can technically do Tabata everyday. You just have to do a different muscle group on some type of rotation. When I incorporated it into my workout, I did it once at the end of the week. I have a female friend that does it on Wednesdays and Sundays. She likes it and combined with her eating and workout schedule, she has some amazing results. Lost about 10lbs and has a nice shape going on.
  • allieward
    allieward Posts: 22
    I do it twice a week: burpees and kettlebell swings. I'm too beat to do it more.
    The higher the intesnity, well for me, the lower the number of times I do it per week
  • Aperture_Science
    Aperture_Science Posts: 840 Member
    I love the Tabata protocol and use it (when not injured) for running and calisthenics work.

    As Mrob81 says, there is no reason that it could not be soemthing that you did every day but in that case you would probably benefir most from witching the exercise type.

    But haiving said that, I do think that it is a relatively limited exercise protocol and for overall health and fitness (as opposed to fitness for a specific sport or as a weight loss strategy) it should only form part of your exercise plan. It is, for example, not as good for stamina and building strength as other protocols.

    Edited to add: I currently use tabata training three times a week but when not injured (and then I can run more) I only use it once a week.
  • Mitzigan94
    Mitzigan94 Posts: 393 Member
    I love tabata. It soothes the mood and the feeling. I just started doing it now. :)) good luck to us all who do tabata.. ")
  • ingridpitts
    ingridpitts Posts: 3 Member
    How many calories does a 4 minute tabata session burn on average? I have guessed it is about 50?
  • vwpyland
    vwpyland Posts: 6 Member
    "How many calories does a 4 minute tabata session burn on average? I have guessed it is about 50?"


    Don't laugh at me, but I did try to research this. Those who are pro-Tabata say that one 4-minute session can burn about the same as a 60 min steady state cardio session, so maybe around 300-400 calories. Of course that varies per person. I am going to assume that includes the ongoing burn that can last 24 to 36 hours after the session. Any other thoughts on this?
  • slomeli79
    slomeli79 Posts: 29 Member
    The actual 4-minute total would be in the 30-40 calorie range for most average adults, but as another person mentioned, it burns far more than that over the following 24 hours when compared to other typical cardio. It's really difficult to track unless you wear a heart rate monitor over 2 days and do/eat/sleep exactly the same way with exception of tabata on one day.

    Someone mentioned that alternating body parts or exercises daily would allow them to perform the tabata protocol daily. This is true for weight training where recovery can occur in isolated parts of the body while others perform work, but the same is not true for exercises following the tabata protocol. This is because of its impact to your central nervous system, and there's no way to alternate how that's impacted from one day to the next. It must rest or adrenal fatigue and/or other hormonal issues will present themselves. (http://www.tabatatimes.com/overtraining-syndrome-and-cns-fatigue/) In short, you can try doing tabata every day, but your body will suffer for it.

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