Looking for a quick, high intensity workout? Tabata may be your answer. The gym at my office started offering Tabata classes last year, and they have grown to be my favorite. But what is Tabata?

What is Tabata?

Tabata training is a high-intensity interval training (HIIT) workout, featuring exercise intervals that last just 20 seconds. HIIT workouts have been one of the fastest growing trends in the exercise world, due to their calorie burning potential in a short time.

Each exercise in a given Tabata workout lasts only four minutes, but it’s likely to be one of the longest four minutes you’ve ever endured. The structure of the program is as follows:

• Workout hard for 20 seconds
• Rest for 10 seconds
• Complete 8 rounds

You push yourself as hard as you can for 20 seconds and rest for 10 seconds. This is one set. You’ll complete eight sets of each exercise.

You can do pretty much any exercise you wish. You can do squats, push-ups, burpees or any other exercise that works your large muscle groups. My office gym even has Tabata classes with core and cardio focuses. The best part is that the total class lasts only 20 minutes!

Source: eReplacementParts.com blog