How many times have you heard the name "Tabata"? How many times have you trained according to this protocol?
Well, in most cases you have not done the real "Tabata".
And most likely you haven't even made a real one HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training namely high intensity interval training) of which Tabata is only one of countless protocols.
Thing? Didn't you know that Tabata was only 1 of many HIIT?
Then make yourself comfortable because today we will talk about this.
Index
What is a HIIT workout?
Un high intensity interval training (HIIT) alternates periods of intense physical exercise with periods of recovery, complete or partial.
HIIT is also defined as a low volume protocol since the total duration of the training is never very high. This means that, being inversely proportional, the training stimulus will focus mainly on intensity.
By acting on 10 variables, ranging from modality to intensity, passing through the type of recovery and the number of series, numerous scientifically validated protocols have been structured that have produced mixed physiological adaptations, both anaerobic and aerobic.
There are dozens of different protocols that have scientifically demonstrated multiple improvements and that have strengthened the belief that HIIT is one of the most effective and innovative training methods of the last decades.
Benefits of HIIT
During a HIIT workout, numerous biological processes occur that change physical fitness, health and performance improvement.
The benefits it brings are both central and peripheral. Central responses are cardiovascular, respiratory, neuronal and hormonal responses. By peripheral responses we mean those that occur at the level of tissues and cells, such as muscle for example.
What is Tabata?
The "Tabata”Is probably the most popular HIIT protocol in the world. Although many make an improper use of it. But let's get to know him better.
In the 90s Professor Izumi Tabata wanted to test a protocol on the women's national skating rink. The results of his studies were published in 1996.
The original protocol was developed on the cycle ergometer and included 20 '' at maximum intensity (170% of the maximum oxygen consumption) followed by 10 '' of passive recovery. It started from 6 cycles and reached up to 8. When the end was reached without decreasing intensity, the required power was increased.
The protocol lasted 6 weeks with 4 such workouts per week plus a low intensity constant intensity workout.
The study found that the team that followed the protocol had improved the maximum oxygen consumption , anaerobic capacity compared to the other group who had instead followed a long, medium intensity, non-interval training.
Improper use of the Tabata
Although workouts with this name are often given in gyms or CrossFit boxes, very few are real Tabata and even most of these are not even HIIT. Let's find out why.
- Cyclic movements. First of all, HIIT protocols, like Tabata itself, were carried out and validated using the ergometers. These tools simulate a cyclical movement (in CrossFit it would be called "monostructural"), that is, a continuous and repetitive movement that puts in large masses muscle mode without however accumulating lactate at the peripheral level. Only in this way is it possible to act centrally while maintaining the required cardiovascular intensities.
So doing 8 stations of 20 seconds of work and 10 seconds of recovery using not only different exercises but also a single exercise that is not a cyclic movement (running, rowing machine, bicycle, assault bike, ski erg, burpees) is simply not Tabata. It's circuit training, but it won't guarantee the same benefits as in the 1996 study. - Intensity. When you also decide to make a Tabata with cyclic movement, for example to the rowing machine, you will have to follow the intensities sought in this protocol. Which are supra-ceilings. Then you should row at every single interval as if it were at sea chased by a shark!
If you also reduced the intensity to finish all 8 intervals you would be wrong. Better to stop for exhaustion at the 5th or 6th interval than to continue until the end reducing the intensity.
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