The 4-Minute Workout

In a recent conversation with a client, it became apparent to me that a new style of training has been gaining popularity in fitness programs. Many gyms are now starting to incorporate what they call “Tabata” type workouts into their group classes. Based on the Tabata Protocol studied by Izumi Tabata, and originally used by the Japanese Olympic speed skating team, this study has been sighted as one of the most influential pieces of research done in the field of interval training and cardiovascular capacity. The study that Izumi put together involved college athletes doing eight 20 second rounds of an all-out sprint on a stationary bike, with 10 seconds of rest between each round.

While this workout did result in significant gains in cardiovascular capacity, there are two important differences between what they did and what “Tabata” classes are doing: duration and intensity. You CANNOT have a 45-minute “Tabata” workout. The study was based on eight rounds of 20 seconds of work to 10 seconds of rest. If you are working for more than four minutes, you are not training within the Tabata structure. More importantly, each of the 20-second bursts was ALL-OUT. All-out means that at the end of each burst, you literally have nothing left. This is exactly why the Tabata is so effective…but incredibly brutal. Most people are not capable of pushing themselves to their limits, let alone eight times in the course of four minutes. This is why Izumi went to college athletes to do the test and not your average weekend warrior.

I don’t mean to say that attempting this method will not be effective, or that other circuit/interval training is ineffective, but it is not right to claim to be providing the type of results that the Tabata Protocol produced when there are probably very few classes that do the program exactly as it was intended.

Another important point is that other than a stationary bike, there are almost no other pieces of equipment or exercises that you can truly go all-out on for eight straight rounds. If you were to do squats, you would have to load yourself perfectly so that right at 20 seconds you would fatigue, then change the weight so that it happened at the exact right time for the next round, and so on. The only other exercise that might work is sprinting, but this is not recommended for most people, as injury can occur.

All in all, I love the idea of a simple 4-minute workout; you just have to keep your expectations realistic and adjust it for your abilities. If you want to add in a Tabata type workout into your workout routine, I would recommend a few things:

1) Do only 4 minutes of intervals.

2) Build up. Even though the work to rest ratios may not be Tabata approved, starting with a 10/20 or 15/15 work-to-rest ratio is much more practical for most people.

3) Do just one exercise for a greater cardiovascular effect. Pair two exercises for a greater metabolic/fat burning effect.

4) If you have access to a stationary bike, start there. This will be the easiest on your joints and allow you to regulate your intensity.

5) Take time beforehand to do a dynamic warm-up, work on your movement patterns and posture, and do an exercise-specific warm-up as well (if you are about to use the bike for your 4-minute workout, take 1-2 minutes to ride the bike before your first all-out burst) .

6) Cool down after your last round, do some stretching, and finish with foam rolling of the muscles that just got worked.

If you follow these steps you can still get great benefits using the Tabata template even though you may not be doing it exactly. Just remember, the results from doing this or any of the classes that claim to use this method will not be the same as if you were to actually follow the program. This does not mean that you will not see results; they will just be reduced. If you can build up to a true Tabata, then you will have found one of the most effective workouts around; just be careful, it’s a doozy!