When fitness and weight loss is a short-term goal, Tabata is the perfect regime. Talking about the four-minute high intensity workout that has caught the city’s attention, fitness consultant Kunal Gir says, “Tabata is a High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) cardio vascular session. Although it is a four-minute workout, it is a very high intensity workout and is not just simply running. The heart rate, while doing this workout, jumps up to 170/180 beats per minute and that’s why one needs to be careful. So while anyone can go for Tabata, they need to also make sure that they do not take on too much pressure. That is why people usually go for group sessions where they work out for two minutes and then take rest. Tabata has nothing to do with muscular endurance.”
Explaining how exactly it should be done, he says, “The best way is to fluctuate and lower the intensity slowly before you pick up speed again. That way the workload will not last more than two minutes. It can be done in various styles depending upon one’s conditional level.” The best part about Tabata is it doesn’t make use of any heavy weights and can be done simply, but under supervision. “The idea is to use an exercise that gets the whole body involved or at least the major muscle groups. A good example is sprinting for 20 seconds and then walking for 10 seconds.
This has to be repeated for a total of eight sets which approximately comes up to four minutes. Tabata training can be done with barbells, dumbbells, kettlebells etc,” adds Kiran Ajit Dembla, fitness trainer. Tabata is a whole body workout and the results will definitely show in a month. Explaining how the regime helps, Dinaz Verwatwala says, “It increases your metabolic rate. Tabata being a tough workout, should be done not very frequently or it gets very monotonous. Each set in Tabata can be maximum of a minute and can be alternated between cardio and strength workouts.”
