Yesterday I slept through my alarm (and by “slept through” I mean hit snooze repeatedly) and woke up much later than I wanted to. I was faced with a conundrum, I needed to work out, but didn’t have the time I needed for my scheduled workout. What’s a gal to do? Should I go back to bed for a bit since I don’t have time for the workout I was supposed to do? Should I haul booty to the gym and at least complete half my workout? I chose neither; I chose to bust out a quick but effective Tabata workout that combined strength training and cardio.
Tabata Basics
Tabata workouts are broken down into rounds. Each round is 20 seconds of intense exercise followed by 10 seconds of rest repeated 8 times for a total of 4 minutes. And trust me, its harder than it sounds. I usually do 8 rounds, so a total of just 32 minutes and my workout is done. When you do weighted exercises, make sure you pick light weights. Trust me, if you normally do 15 pound dumbbell curls you can’t use the same weight for a Tabata workout.
The Workout
Here’s what I did yesterday, remember to give it everything you have for 20 seconds. If you’re not working out as hard as you can for 20 seconds, you aren’t really doing Tabata.
Round 1
- Reverse Crunches first 2 minutes
- Squats last 2 minutes
Round 2
- Medicine Ball Slams first 2 minutes
- Toe Taps on Medicine Ball last 2 minutes
Round 3
- Crunches first 2 minutes
- Sumo Dead Lifts last 2 minutes
Round 4
- Upright Rows first 2 minutes
- Toe Taps on Medicine Ball last 2 minutes
Round 5
- Russian Twists first 2 minutes
- Narrow Squats last 2 minutes
Round 6
- Dumbbell Curls first 2 minutes
- Toe Taps on Medicine Ball last 2 minutes
Round 7
- Planks first 2 minutes
- Fire Hydrants Right Leg last 2 minutes
Round 8
- Fire Hydrants Left Leg First 2 minutes
- Toe Taps on Medicine Ball last 2 minutes
Doesn’t sound too bad, right? Wrong! If you push yourself, you will be dripping in sweat and sore after about half an hour. Tabata kicks your butt, so it’s always my go to when I’m short on time. You may be thinking to yourself “Heather, this sounds great, but how can I give my workout 100% and worry about timing intervals?” and to that I say, “there’s an app for that”. I have a Tabata app right on my phone. It beeps right over my music when its time to start and stop. Did I mention this app was free? So now you have no excuse not to try Tabata. Do you have any go to workouts for when you’re short on time? Let me know in the comments!
Photo Credit: http://www.fitsugar.com/What-Tabata-Training-21477705
