Short on time, like me?? Between shuttling the older kids to school and their various lessons, taking care of baby Cash, trying to manage the family business and get a healthy dinner on the table at a reasonable time each night ? there are days that I just simply can?t make it to the gym for a regular work out.? But?I still manage to get one in! Here?s a little secret of mine, called Tabata. It’s how I get Fit in 4 Minutes :).
Tabata is a wonderfully simple method of high intensity interval training that was developed in Japan by Professor Izumi Tabata.? The best part about it? It?s in such a basic form and easy enough for anyone to follow, AND it can take as little as 4 minutes to do!
Each movement ?block? takes 4 minutes. You can choose to Tabata one movement (4 minutes), or you can Tabata five movements (20 minutes) ? totally up to you depending on how much time and energy you have.
Set the clock for 4 minutes or download a Tabata timer app on your smartphone. Once you hit start, your workout will look like this:
8 rounds of:
20 seconds of movement
10 seconds of rest
You will do a total of 8 rounds – 20 seconds ON, 10 seconds OFF – totaling 4 minutes. Easy as that!
You can Tabata any movement you want to customize your workout. Here is what I did today:
Movement #1 ? Air Squats?
8 rounds in 4 minutes of: ??20 seconds of airsquats (do as many as you can!);?10 seconds of rest
Movement #2 ? Push ups
8 rounds in 4 minutes of: ?20 seconds of push ups (do as many as you can!);?10 seconds of rest
Movement #3 ? Swing ups?
8 rounds in 4 minutes of: ?20 seconds of swing ups (do as many as you can!);?10 seconds of rest
Go get ?em!
