New Music Wednesday: Tabata!

There’s quite a story behind Tabata, but the bottom line is that it’s a fun, mentally engaging, physically challenging way to do interval training.

Tabata is a unique protocol where you train in 4-minute blocks:

• 20 seconds of hard/intense work
• 10 seconds of rest (just walk around and breathe for 10 seconds)
• Perform 8 cycles

That’s “1 Tabata”.

Sound easy? The pattern is easy to follow, sure… but those 20-second “work” segments are intended to be maximum effort where you push yourself to exciting new limits (hey, it’s only 20 seconds ;). The great thing about Tabata is that you can do one Tabata, two Tabatas or eight Tabatas. The harder you push, the fewer Tabatas you should be able to do. Try one and see how you feel! No time to workout today? Take five minutes and do a Tabata! It’ll get your blood pumping and energy flowing. You can also add a Tabata to the end of your usual workout for that “extra push”… or spice up your next treadmill workout by doing several Tabatas in a row.

High-intensity interval training, like Tabata, can boost overall calorie burn, improve cardiorespiratory power, and build endurance, strength, and speed. Yes, it can do all that… because the thought of “pushing for just a few seconds” seems doable, and therefore we actually end up “pushing for just a few seconds”, and that makes us stronger.

So that’s the basics of Tabata. Here’s the “how”: the secret is MUSIC

Turbo Tabata Trainer 8 is a professional DJ-mixed workout album with chart-topping songs and specially formatted audio cues that tell you exactly when to work and rest. The audio cues also track your cycles, so you’ll know when you hit that magic “8” number and finish a complete Tabata block. The music features heart-pumping remixes of great songs like: “We Will Rock You”, “Gangsta’s Paradise” and more… all perfectly blended with those essential Tabata audio coaching cues. If you have fun Tabata music, you can do Tabata with any workout (cycle, run, elliptical, burpees, whatever), at any time or any place.

Take a listen to the album. I think you’ll like what you hear. And I KNOW you’ll love the way Tabata makes you feel ;). #keepingitfresh