Tone Up

Tabata Workout

Tabata was created by Dr. Izumi Tabata and a team of researchers from the National Institute of Fitness and Sports in Tokyo, Japan.

It is one of the best workouts I know if you are looking to burn body fat, tone up and /or get fit quick. If my clients go away on holiday I always give them Tabata workouts to do while they are away because it requires no equipment and can be done anywhere.

Tabata is an interval training cycle of 20 seconds of maximum intensity exercise, followed by 10 seconds of rest, repeated without pause 8 times for a total of four minutes. You can apply this principal to almost any exercise and it is used by athletes and people simply wanting to get fit and look good on the beach for summer.

You literally do a many reps as you can in 20 seconds and then rest for 10 seconds and repeat 7 times so that you do 8 rounds in all. Try and recreate the same amount of reps in each 20 second cycle.

It is important to time this correctly so it is a good idea to do it in front of a clock or have a stop watch or watch nearby.

Monday
5 min warm up... Moderate activity

Body weight exercises Tabata
Squats... 4 minutes
Press ups.... 4 minutes
Sit ups.... 4 minutes
Lunges.... 4 minutes
Stretch and cool down

Tuesday
Rest or go for a walk at a leisurely pace. You might be a bit sore so it is best to do some type of movement at a really low intensity.

Wednesday
Tabata Cardio circuit
5 minute warm up
Rower go hard for 20 seconds and slow or stop for 10 seconds repeat 7 times
2 min rest
Cross trainer go hard for 20 seconds and slow or stop for 10 seconds repeat 7 times
2 min rest
Treadmill go hard for 20 seconds and slow or stop for 10 seconds repeat 7 times
2 min rest
Bike go hard for 20 seconds and slow or stop for 10 seconds repeat 7 times
2 min rest
stretch
Alternatively you can run or walk outside using the Tabata principle. Make sure you complete 4 sets of Tabata with 2 minutes rest in-between

Thursday
Rest or go for a walk at a leisurely pace. You might be a bit sore so it is best to do some type of movement at a really low intensity.

Friday
Repeat Mon workout.

Sat
Repeat Wed workout.

Sunday
Rest

If you want more variety you might want to swap a body weight Tabata for a group exercise class like Body Pump or a Cardio Tabata for a spin class.

Go for it!
Lisa Brown (Director)
Email activity@innervate.net.au if you have any questions regarding this info