Last Crossfit in Al Udeied this morning - we did TABATA:
Everything you ever wanted to know about Tabata
This is a research based article with tid bits of opinion sprinkled in. It is my hopes that this post will be a reference point when ever you have any questions about Tabata. I will continue to add to this article as I find more pertinent information about tabata. If you would like to have somethign added please post it in the comments.
The What?
Tabata is basically four minutes of High Intensirt Interval Training (HIIT). It is 20 seconds of work with 10 seconds of rest and 8 rounds total. All eight rounds are the same exercise. For example, if you were to do tabata squats it you would do as many squats in a row for 20 second, rest 10 seconds, do as many squats in 20 seconds, and so on until you complete eight rounds. Depending on the what the work out calls for, you either count the amount of reps in the last round or the total amount of reps in all eight round; the later is more widely used.
The Tabata protocal is a unique rep scheme that seems to benifit a broad range of athletes (Explained in ‘The Why’). Since Crossfit focuses on ‘Increasing Work Capacity Across Broad Time and Modal Domains (ICWCABTAMD)’ this seems to fit very well into Crossfit programming.
[Update Feb 04, 2009: Garet Smith mentioned in his comment below that the "8th set standard is a CF addition that is not a requirement in the original Tabata study protocols." The original two studies here and here were tested at seven to eight sets and six to seven sets. Thank you Garet for the info.
The Who?
Dr. Izumi Tabata Phd is the researcher from Japan's National Institute of Fitness and Sports in Kanoya who proved what many fitness buff's already knew, which is short bursts of high intensity exercise resulted in more conditioning than moderate exercise for long periods of time [For example, sprints vs. jogging (p.s. I hate jogging)].
What many people do not know is that Izumi Tabata is not the originator of the Tabata protocal. The head coach of the Japanese speed skating team provided the rep scheme will Dr. Tabata researched it.
The Why
In one of Tabata’s study, men performed tabata exercises (exercise bike) for 5 days a week for 6 weeks. At the end of the study, on an average there was a 14% increase in aerobic capacity. Additionally, the test subjects anaerobic capacity increased by 28%. By increasing the test subjects aerobic (with oxygen) and anaerobic (without oxygen) it would increase ones conditioning for both endurance related and strength related aspects of ones fitness; which is pretty sweet for crossfitters.
As a comparison, running at 70% capactiy (jogging) for 60 minutes a day for 5-6 days for 6 weeks only increased aerobic capacity by 9.5% with no change in anaerobic capacity. What does this mean? Performing 4 minutes of high intensity work is better than 60 minutes of running! Coach Glassman mentions that “these high-intensity work outs produce this dramatic aerobic benifit with out muscle waisting brought about by endurance training.” With Tabata, it is proven that you receive greater aerobic and anaerobic stimulus then endurance training while at the same time there is no atrophy.
The Programming
The Tabata protocal can be used with any movement. Often with Crossfit it is used with Squats, Push ups, Sit ups, Pull ups, and rowing. The most popular Crossfit work out that utilizes the Tabata method is Tabata something else; whis is Pull ups, Push ups, Sit ups, and Squats - 8 round of each exercise - 32 round total - 16 minutes for the entire work out. For information about programming tabata with dumbells, please see Dr. Tabata and the Dumbell
Tabata Work outs
Tabata Something Else (Also called Tabata This)
Rounds per exercise = 8 — Total Rounds = 32 — Time = 16 minutes
Pull ups - Push Ups - Sit ups - Air squats
*Your score is everything added together
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