Oh no, TABATAS?

[smileyman22336]

Basically, I do short sprints, but not enough. After a few, I'm out of breath and no way is 10 seconds enough for me to recuperate. Now, I couldn't imagine what I'd do if I had to do 20 secs of sprints with 10 sec rests in between. 10 sets of 20 second sprints with the 10 secs in between I've never done before. I usually wait 30 secs in between a 10 or 15 second sprint. How can I make myself more n shape for this? I promise to try very hard to accomplish this.

[Ziltoid]

Just keep doing it. You will get used to it. Or you can take a bit longer break if you need to. Make sure to breathe through your nose nice and slow and controlled and out your mouth. When I first started HIT, I had that problem but I just kept doing it and eventually got used to it. Actually what might have helped me out is burpees. try those bad boys. hehe

[Sonny]

Originally Posted by smileyman22336

Basically, I do short sprints, but not enough. After a few, I'm out of breath and no way is 10 seconds enough for me to recuperate. Now, I couldn't imagine what I'd do if I had to do 20 secs of sprints with 10 sec rests in between. 10 sets of 20 second sprints with the 10 secs in between I've never done before. I usually wait 30 secs in between a 10 or 15 second sprint. How can I make myself more n shape for this? I promise to try very hard to accomplish this.

Tabata is only 8 sets, not 10.

Obviously as you fatigue, you're not going to be able to sprint as fast, but keep at it, you'll get there.

[chia]

Originally Posted by Sonny

Tabata is only 8 sets, not 10.

Obviously as you fatigue, you're not going to be able to sprint as fast, but keep at it, you'll get there.

Tabata is at least 8 sets. That was just the protocol Tabata happened to use; no harm in doing more if you can.

[Jake Martin]

Originally Posted by chia

Tabata is at least 8 sets. That was just the protocol Tabata happened to use; no harm in doing more if you can.

My thoughts would be that the more sets you do, the less intense the sets are, which drift you further and further away from the idea behind the protocol.

Too little sets, not enough work. Too many, too much.

Golden mean!

[Sonny]

Originally Posted by chia

Tabata is at least 8 sets. That was just the protocol Tabata happened to use; no harm in doing more if you can.

That was my point. Tabata used 8 sets so I always equated tabatas with 8 sets only.

[chia]

Actually, the number of sets is less important than the effort. As long as you are doing near full effort (probably around 90% depending on the exercise), and doing intervals of 20 seconds with 10 seconds rest, the actual duration is not as important. 4 minutes is a good goal. Beginners won't be able to do it, but they should try. People who have done Tabatas consistently will be able to do 4 minutes at near full intensity, and maybe more. For those people, one means of progression would be to increase the number of intervals, to say 10 at first. The important thing is that intensity is not sacrificed for duration.

Obviously this depends on the exercise chosen too. I could do 10 sets of bodyweight jump squats fairly easily. But I probably can't do a total of 8 sets of sprints at near maximal intensity or front squats with 95 lb. If you don't have weights or room to sprint, obviously you would want to do more than just 10 sets of bodweight jump squats. So really it is dependent both on your level of training and the exercise you choose.

I also understand why people would equate Tabata with the 8 set protocol, but I like to look at it more as the work/rest interval rather than in total sets. Just semantics I guess. I don't think Dr. Tabata would object if more sets were performed.

[Gavin LeFever]

Try and see what works for you.

I like 30/90 (work/rest) for some things and 20/10 (w/r) for others.

I think sprints don't stay true sprints for long in a tabata, but the point of tabata is that you're busting your ass giving 100% on the work time.

[Sonny]

Originally Posted by chia

Actually, the number of sets is less important than the effort. As long as you are doing near full effort (probably around 90% depending on the exercise), and doing intervals of 20 seconds with 10 seconds rest, the actual duration is not as important. 4 minutes is a good goal. Beginners won't be able to do it, but they should try. People who have done Tabatas consistently will be able to do 4 minutes at near full intensity, and maybe more. For those people, one means of progression would be to increase the number of intervals, to say 10 at first. The important thing is that intensity is not sacrificed for duration.

Obviously this depends on the exercise chosen too. I could do 10 sets of bodyweight jump squats fairly easily. But I probably can't do a total of 8 sets of sprints at near maximal intensity or front squats with 95 lb. If you don't have weights or room to sprint, obviously you would want to do more than just 10 sets of bodweight jump squats. So really it is dependent both on your level of training and the exercise you choose.

I also understand why people would equate Tabata with the 8 set protocol, but I like to look at it more as the work/rest interval rather than in total sets. Just semantics I guess. I don't think Dr. Tabata would object if more sets were performed.

I'm just buggin' you dude. I forgot to add a at the end of that post.

[JSN]

can you buy a stopwatch that can be set up for tabatas or do you guys do them with your romeboys?