For those of you that don’t know what Tabata protocal is, it’s 4 minutes of pure hell! It was originally designed by a Japanese Doctor– amazingly named Tabata! He originally designed it to be done with full out running, but since catching on in the US and other places all kinds of exercises can be done with it. Just one of the many studies can be found here.
It basically is you perform :20 a selected exercise at full intensity. Then you rest for just :10, Then another :20. This is repeated for 8 rounds. For those of you that think your in shape, it’s a lot harder than it seems. If you’ve never done it before I suggest going more of a :20/:20 ratio or a :15/:!5. First time I did it I did it with DB Thrusters with 30 lbs each hand and only lasted 4.5 rounds.
In my opinion there is no better protocol for conditioning combat athletes– boxing, mma, wrestling. Other sports can surely benefit by it, just make sure you have a bucket nearby. And for fat loss nothing really compares. People that do aerobics and walk on the treadmill or elliptical for hours on end and don’t see any results won’t go near Tabata– because it’s hard as hell! They do those things because it’s easy, and they want to feel like their at least trying to lose weight. But getting the best workout for weight/fat loss and muscle gain and conditioning all come down to one thing– what you put into it. Or intensity. And with the Tabata protocol there aren’t too many more things more intense. Give it a try, and let me know the results.
I just did a 2 set one today of heavy bag punching and squat thrusts. Your only limited by your imagination of what you can do. Below is a creative fellow who did sledgehammer slams and kettlebell snatches. I might have to try that one soon.
