Tabata training

Tabata training was invented by Dr. Izumi Tabata and a team of researchers from the National Institute of Fitness and Sports in Tokyo.
It is said to be as effective as a 45 minute normal cardio session.
In the research done, it was shown that the participants increased their fitness by over a quarter and these were subjects that were already supremely fit!
It is really straight forward to do but requires an intense effort on part of the participant.
First off, you have to utilise the large muscle groups. No good attempting a Tabata with barbell curls!
You then do 8 sets consisting off 20 seconds work followed by 10 seconds rest.
This is a grand total of 4 minutes work!
The intervals tax both your aerobic and anaerobic energy systems.

This may seem trivial compared to your average 45 minute aerobic session but believe me when you do it right, it will seem like a very long 4 minutes.
Clearly with such an extreme effort, you would have to have a thorough warm up first.
If I was using the Concept 2 rower (an excellent choice for Tabata)I would do a good 10 minutes first at a moderate pace with 2 to 3 hard rows of 10 strokes duration thrown in to really get warmed up.
I would also recommend a reasonable level of fitness first before attempting this form of training.



Examples of Tabata training
Concept 2 rowing. Try to produce the same distance per 20 seconds on each row
Kettlebell snatch, either single or double bells.
Kettlebell squat and press
Kettlebell swings
Box jumps
Push ups
Squats
Pull ups
Bulgarian bag spins.

In fact, just use your imagination to see what you can come up with.

The following is my session from the 28th of January.

Concept 2 rower
Each sprint was between 104 and 107 metres.

7 minute rest

Kettlebell double snatch
Here I used two 16kg bells and managed 8 reps per set.

7 minutes rest

Swings

Here I used a 32kg bell.

3 Tabata' in a row may seem excessive, you could even argue that I wasn't working intensely enough if I could do 3 but I would have to disagree.
It was an extreme session and I worked as hard as I possibly could within each.
The row and snatches were equally hard but if I was honest I would say that the swing was the easiest component here, relatively speaking that is!

Personally, I find Tabatas enjoyable. They are tough, yes, but you really feel as though you have done a proper work out. You do have to be disciplined if you want to keep up the intensity throughout the session but it's only 4 minutes long and those 10 second breaks really allow you get a quick gulp of air.
Although, having said that I don't usually feel the benefits of that so much in relation to the snatches. As soon as I stop here, I suddenly realise how knackered I am!!
Give them a go, and see how you get on, a great session, especially if you're pushed for time, just don't forget to warm up thoroughly and no jumping off the rower the moment you're done, gradually bring your heart rate down before flopping on to the floor!