Workout Wednesday - TABATA

TABATA - one of those workouts that I love to hate. I love that I may dread walking into the gym when I know TABATA is on the agenda but I always get my groove on within the first round. I hate how weak I feel by the fourth round, even though there are still four more rounds to go. I love that I leave sweating and feeling like I got a good workout. I hate the soreness that always seems to follow the next day....who am I kidding, I love the soreness!

What is TABATA? TABATA was named after a Japanese researcher that developed this style of workout, Dr. Izumi Tabata. He spent six weeks studying a group of athletes to see if they would benefit from an interval-based training program. This workout is 20 seconds of an all-out exercise followed by 10 seconds of rest repeated eight times for a total of four minutes.

The goal of those 20 seconds is ALL-OUT for the individual. I stress that this is an individual effort, There are those that would argue that most people do not do this correctly because they do not put in enough effort. If you are out there giving it your all than you are doing and loving TABATA.

Back to the why? I always leave knowing a worked hard. I am sweating, exhausted, and feel accomplished. On top of that I know that my 45-60 min workout (including warm up and cool down) is going to keep my metabolism running on high gear for up to 24 hours.

If you haven't experienced this fantastic style of workout I encourage you to try it out. If it has been a while, well, get back to it. And if you are a regular you know what I am talking about and you are already planning your next TABATA session. Where ever you fall in that assortment get out and enjoy!