After yesterday’s post about Tabata training and the background and benefits of it, I was asked some more questions, so I thought to myself, “Go make another post providing sample Tabata workouts!”
Here they are!
Remember, the Tabata method consists of 20 seconds of work done as hard as you can, 10 seconds of rest, and then you repeat this 8 times, for a total of 4 minutes all together for one Tabata round.
I often combine multiple rounds of Tabatas (with an active 60 seconds of rest between rounds) to make a killer workout, or part of a workout.
Here’s my promise: These workouts will FLY by…But be warned, they aren’t for the faint of heart. You WILL be out of breath, you WILL be excited for those 10 seconds of rest, and you WILL feel extreme accomplishment when you’re on the 8th time of an exercise! 😉
**Disclaimer: I’m better at physically doing the exercises than writing descriptions lol, so if you want a video of any of the following exercises, I’m thinking of starting a YouTube Channel that I’ll really update and share workouts and recipes…Would you watch it?!**
Cardio Tabata Workouts
Go ahead and mix and match any of the following exercises, either to combine multiple rounds of Tabatas or to alternate two different exercises 4 times each to create one FUN round of Tabatas.
Plyometric Lunges (See description in my Tabata post from 7/29/13)
Burpees (Also see description in the 7/29/13 post)
Switch Kicks
Jump Squats
High Knee Runs
Shuffle Side to Side (tapping ground as you alternate direction)
Jumping Jacks (Or Star Jacks)
Mountain Climbers
Plank Jacks
Tuck Jumps
A variation of Tuck Jumps: 2 crisscross jacks + 1 tuck jump
A variation of Mountain Climbers: Hold lunge with right foot forward and pulse down for 3, bring hands to the ground, send legs back into a mountain climber for 8 counts, stand back up in lunge, and repeat from the pulse
Another variation: Single Leg Mountain Climbers (See photo above)
Roundhouse Kicks, either alternating sides throughout the 20 seconds, or one side for 20 seconds then the other side for the next 20 seconds, repeating until you’ve worked for 4 minutes
Lunge Back w one leg, and kick forward with same leg (Then complete a round on the other side, or alternate sides throughout one Tabata round, in this case you would be only completing each side 4 times, but still working for 4 minutes total. Make sense? Comment below if that doesn’t make sense)
X Punches: Punch with right arm towards right top corner, punch across with left arm down low on the right side; Punch with left arm towards top left corner, punch across with right arm down low on the left side (Your arms are kind of making an “X” and once you really get into it, you can add a little leap when going from side to side)
Jab and Jack: Jab one arm straight in front with power, jumping jack, jab other arm out in front, jumping jack (could also do a star jack between jabs to pump up the heartrate even more)
Chair Jacks: Jump down into chair pose, staying low jump legs out wide to a squat, jump legs back into chair, and jump up tall-tuck or just jump tall (landing back in chair pose to repeat again and again for your 20 seconds)
SOOO Many More, but I don’t want to BORE you! 😉
Strength Tabata Workouts-I prefer doing bodyweight strength with Tabata training because I get nervous going all out with weights, if you do (and you can!) please be careful to think quality and form over quantity.
Pushups
Squats
Lunges
Plank (Or any variation of Plank-Try one arm lifted, one leg lifted, an arm and leg lifted 🙂 )
Downdog to Plank (flow through from one to the other)
Stability Ball Crunches (the only crunches I really do-Great range of motion makes them more effective than standard)
And while you’ve got that stability ball, how about some Knee Pulls-In a plank position with ball under feet, pull knees in towards chest and send back out, or Pikes
Or Back Extensions on the Ball
Banana! 😉 Laying supine, extend legs out long and arms overhead, lift up head, neck, shoulders, and arms and legs and HOLD for 20 secs (your body will be in a banana shape!)
Crisscross (like in Pilates, laying supine again, pull one knee in, opposite armpit reaches towards the knee, and switch-Crossing at the waist, hips stay controlled)
V-Sits
Bridge-Pulse those hips up and squeeze the glutes!
Want more ideas for a specific goal you have or body part you want to work that I missed?
Comment below and ask!
And be sure to Stay Strong, friends!
Healthy♥Happy♥Fit 