Looking at the activities that I've done over the past week or so, I realized that I've done some active things, but nothing really sweaty. So I decided that today I would try a sweat-inducing activity that I've never done before. It's called Tabata or the Tabata Protocol.
I heard about it somewhere (OK - it was the Dr. Oz show - don't judge me).
I heard about it somewhere (OK - it was the Dr. Oz show - don't judge me).
In 1996, Dr. Tabata did a study on Olympic Speedskaters at the National Institute of Fitness and Sports in Japan. The conclusion of the study was basically that doing a a short 4-minute workout 4 times a week plus one regular cardio workout for 6 weeks was more effective than 5 hour-long cardio workouts for the same period of time. The workout is 20 seconds of a really high intensity exercise, followed by 10 seconds of rest, and you repeat that 8 times - totalling 4 minutes.
I looked up a bunch of YouTube videos and decided on the exercises that I was going to do for the 20 second intervals. After I put the kids to bed, I got into my workout clothes, set up my iPad with the interval timer app on in my living room, and I went for it. And in only 4 minutes, I was really out of breath and pretty sweaty.
I don't think I can currently go to the high intensity level that is needed for the full benefit - I think I need to work my way up to it. After the fact, I started to do a bit more research online, and found that I really should do a warm-up and a cool-down (I should have known that!).
Anyway, I think I'll do it again - maybe it'll be my thing. It's only 4 minutes - I should be able to find time to do that right?
If you're interested in finding out more about Tabata, here's a good article and here's the study.
I looked up a bunch of YouTube videos and decided on the exercises that I was going to do for the 20 second intervals. After I put the kids to bed, I got into my workout clothes, set up my iPad with the interval timer app on in my living room, and I went for it. And in only 4 minutes, I was really out of breath and pretty sweaty.
I don't think I can currently go to the high intensity level that is needed for the full benefit - I think I need to work my way up to it. After the fact, I started to do a bit more research online, and found that I really should do a warm-up and a cool-down (I should have known that!).
Anyway, I think I'll do it again - maybe it'll be my thing. It's only 4 minutes - I should be able to find time to do that right?
If you're interested in finding out more about Tabata, here's a good article and here's the study.