Tabata Protocols

from Chris Strouds Blog at: 

http://crossfit.chrisstroud.net

Tabata is basically four minutes of High Intensirt Interval Training (HIIT). It is 20 seconds of work with 10 seconds of rest and 8 rounds total. All eight rounds are the same exercise. For example, if you were to do tabata squats it you would do as many squats in a row for 20 second, rest 10 seconds,  do as many squats in 20 seconds, and so on until you complete eight rounds. Depending on the what the work out calls for, you either  count the amount of reps in the last round or the total amount of reps in all eight round; the later is more widely used.

The Tabata protocal is a unique rep scheme that seems to benifit a broad range of athletes (Explained in ‘The Why’). Since Crossfit focuses on ‘Increasing Work Capacity Across Broad Time and Modal Domains (ICWCABTAMD)’ this seems to fit very well into Crossfit programming.

The Who?

Dr. Izumi Tabata Phd is the researcher from Japan’s National Institute of Fitness and Sports in Kanoya who proved what many fitness buff’s already knew, which is short bursts of high intensity exercise resulted in more conditioning than moderate exercise for long periods of time [For example, sprints vs. jogging (p.s. I hate jogging)].

What many people do not know is that Izumi Tabata is not the originator of the Tabata protocal. The head coach of the Japanese speed skating team provided the rep scheme will Dr. Tabata researched it.

The Why

In one of Tabata’s study, men performed tabata exercises (exercise bike) for 5 days a week for 6 weeks. At the end of the study, on an average there was a 14% increase in aerobic capacity. Additionally, the test subjects anaerobic capacity increased by 28%. By increasing the test subjects aerobic (with oxygen) and anaerobic (without oxygen) it would increase ones conditioning for both endurance related and strength related aspects of ones fitness; which is pretty sweet for crossfitters.

As a comparison, running at 70% capactiy (jogging) for 60 minutes a day for 5-6 days for 6 weeks only increased aerobic capacity by 9.5% with no change in anaerobic capacity. What does this mean? Performing 4 minutes of high intensity work is better than 60 minutes of running! Coach Glassman mentions that “these high-intensity work outs produce this dramatic aerobic benifit with out muscle waisting brought about by endurance training.” With Tabata, it is proven that you receive greater aerobic and anaerobic  stimulus then endurance training while at the same time there is no atrophy.