Have You Heard Of Tabata?

We have all heard of (or at least should have) high-intensity interval training. I covered it in one of my previous fitness articles – stamina training. But over the last few weeks, I have been experimenting with a different form of HIIT known as Tabata.

Tabata is a method of high-intensity interval training (HIIT) pioneered by Dr. Izumi Tabata and his team. On the surface, it sounds too good to be true. The whole work out lasts only four minutes in total. 20 seconds of all-out effort, followed by 10 seconds rest. This is repeated until the four minutes are completed.

Four minutes doesn’t seem like a lot. It’s probably easy right? Let me tell you, it’s so stressful! I was breathing so heavy after these four minutes, I had to lie down and wait for my heart rate to come back down to a normal level. I was struggling to complete rounds 6 and 7, let alone 8.

How Is It So Effective?

With steady state cardio (or endurance training) your heart increases its workload over time to cope with oxygen demands. In Tabata, you immediately taps into your creatine phosphate system and transitions to your lactic acid system pretty rapidly. Because of the 2:1 work to rest ratio, you do not really get a chance to recover and let your heart rate come down.

So your anaerobic system really takes a hit for 4 minutes. Thereafter, your heart rate maintains a high work rate in order to supply enough oxygen to the muscles to clear lactate and hydrogen ions which are making your muscles feel so heavy. At this point, because your heart is working so hard, your aerobic system is actually developing as the intake of oxygen becomes more efficient.

In Dr. Tabata’s study, one group cycled on an indoor cycling machine for an hour at a moderate pace (about 70% of their VO2 max). This is the equivalent of endurance training. The second group did 20 seconds of sprints, followed by 10 seconds of rest for four minutes. This was completed for 5 days a week over 6 weeks.

The first group did not make any significant gains in their anaerobic capacity. This was expected as they were not using any anaerobic processes in their training. What is interesting however is that the second group performing sprints not only improved their anaerobic capacity but also their aerobic capacity improved at a similar level to that of the endurance group. So 4 minutes of high-intensity exercise a day was equivalent to 60 minutes of moderate exercise a day in terms of aerobic capacity and superior in terms of anaerobic capacity.

How To Do It

I would not recommend this to anyone who is not already a good level of fitness. Likewise, if the person is perhaps very overweight, or somebody who has injuries as it can be quite stressful on the body. It’s definitely not an entry-level fitness routine. I guess you could modify it and go at your own pace, but other options may be better suited to you.

If you are going to try this work out ensure you warm up first! You don’t want to be going straight into this without doing a thorough warm-up and some stretches. As with any high-intensity exercise, the risk of injury is greater so you should always prepare your body adequately for it.

There are many videos on YouTube which have Tabata songs, which count down the work times and rest times. I often use these to complete my workout. I have included an example below.

The key to this exercise routine is intensity. To reiterate Dr Tabata’s findings, the same progress was made in just a four-minute workout compared to a 60-minute workout. But remember, those four minutes were not a brief walk. It was all out effort. It’s easy to work in your comfort zone, especially if your goals or opponents do not challenge you sufficiently. However, pushing yourself to the limit is something we might not do enough in our training and to make real changes this is imperative.

For those 8 rounds of 20 seconds each, you need to be giving your all. This is really not easy as it’s so tempting when you’re halfway through to drop down to about 70-80% of your maximum effort. You need to be able to push through this mental barrier because your body is more than capable of doing this. I find at about round 6 it really becomes a struggle. But push through it and you’ll find that you feel fitter on the court and able to perform better too.

What Exercises Can Be Used?

In short, pretty much anything. I wouldn’t recommend trying to lift very heavy weight for this because you will burn out quickly and might risk serious injury. For most people, bodyweight exercises are enough, although you can incorporate light weights and perform compound movements such as thrusters.

The other thing is that you don’t have to pick 8 different exercises. You can pick one exercise and complete 8 sets. Or your can pick 4 and complete 2 sets of each exercise. Your approach is really up to you. I like to pick either 2 or 4 exercises.

Some examples of exercises which are great for Tabata are:

1. Burpees
2. Squat Jumps
3. High Knees
4. Jumping Lunges (swap legs as you jump)
5. Sprints

You can also use gym equipment such as treadmills, rowing machines or cycling machines. If you really want to tailor it to badminton, it can also be used for court exercises such as shadowing, smashing drills or other footwork drills.

Why Is This Good For Badminton Players?

Now I’m not just telling you this for the sake of fitness. As this is a badminton blog of course I have to tie it in! Personally I think this a great addition to your badminton conditioning training. We have already discussed the benefits of increasing aerobic and anaerobic capabilities which are of course vital to any badminton player.

But the main reason I think this is so effective is that typically, a badminton rally generally lasts only a few seconds – a minute. They tend to be pretty high intensity, particularly in doubles but also in singles. So if you can perform at max intensity for roughly 2.5 minutes with the remaining time your heart working at close to or at its maximum rate, chances are you will be fit enough to see out a badminton rally, even the longer ones.

Bearing in mind that the rest periods between rallies are often greater than ten seconds, you have more than enough time to recover. Combine this with the increased aerobic capacity (which translates to better recovery times) between rallies, you should be going into each rally feeling relatively fresh.

Not only this, in your training, it will help you to train longer as your fitness levels improve and with increased fitness comes a better mental game, better decision making and clearer focus in matches.

Conclusion

Tabata really seems beneficial to all players. Particularly to club players who might want to train but lack the time to dedicate due to family, work or other commitments. Just four minutes, anybody can make time for that! The key here is intensity. You can’t half-arse your way through this workout and think that’s enough. You have to go all out every time to maximise your results, otherwise, you are just shortchanging yourself.

This should not be considered the holy grail of training, however! You will still benefit from the endurance, strength, power and flexibility training you should already be doing. Tabata should be considered an additional exercise to your training schedule.

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