What's a Tabata?
For 20 seconds do as many reps of the assigned exercise as you can - then rest 10 seconds. Repeat this 7 more times for a total of 8 intervals, 4 minutes total exercise.
Tabata Research
The Tabata is named after Izumi Tabata, Ph.D., a former researcher at Japan's National Institute of Fitness and Sports. He performed a study with rats comparing high-intensity intermittent exercise training (HIT) with low-intensity prolonged exercise training (LIT). For 8 days, two different groups of rats performed the following:
The HIT group: 14 tabata rounds (20-s on, 10-s off) of high-intensity swimming.
(Total work time: 280 s, not including the rests.)
The LIT group: Two 3-h bouts, separated by 45 min of rest, of low-intensity swimming.
(Total work time: 6 h, not including the rest.)
"In conclusion, the present investigation demonstrated that 8 days of HIT lasting only 280 s elevated both GLUT-4 content and maximal glucose transport activity in rat skeletal muscle to a level similar to that attained after LIT, which has been considered a tool to increase GLUT-4 content maximally." - Dr. Tabata
The Complete Scientific Paper written by Izumi Tabata and his research team:
Effects of high-intensity swimming training on GLUT-4 and glucose transport activity in rat skeletal muscle
For 20 seconds do as many reps of the assigned exercise as you can - then rest 10 seconds. Repeat this 7 more times for a total of 8 intervals, 4 minutes total exercise.
Tabata Research
The Tabata is named after Izumi Tabata, Ph.D., a former researcher at Japan's National Institute of Fitness and Sports. He performed a study with rats comparing high-intensity intermittent exercise training (HIT) with low-intensity prolonged exercise training (LIT). For 8 days, two different groups of rats performed the following:
The HIT group: 14 tabata rounds (20-s on, 10-s off) of high-intensity swimming.
(Total work time: 280 s, not including the rests.)
The LIT group: Two 3-h bouts, separated by 45 min of rest, of low-intensity swimming.
(Total work time: 6 h, not including the rest.)
"In conclusion, the present investigation demonstrated that 8 days of HIT lasting only 280 s elevated both GLUT-4 content and maximal glucose transport activity in rat skeletal muscle to a level similar to that attained after LIT, which has been considered a tool to increase GLUT-4 content maximally." - Dr. Tabata
The Complete Scientific Paper written by Izumi Tabata and his research team:
Effects of high-intensity swimming training on GLUT-4 and glucose transport activity in rat skeletal muscle