First Tabata on trainer this morning - was killer

[steve-waters]

Morning folks!!!

Whoa did my first real Tabata interval set on the trainer this morning - it doesn't seem like much work on paper but bloody hell that blew my little cotton socks off.

Don't train with power use HR which is useless here as lags too much although was interesting looking at the HR overlaid speed afterwards - HR pretty much just heads North slight dips from rest periods but essentially up it goes for the four minutes. Speed was inconsistent in the work periods I use a Kurt Kinetic trainer so it is not the trainer varying resistance just my legs

Going to keep at them for a bit and see how I go.

That's it peeps have a wicked day and enjoy whatever training you get up to

[Alex Simmons/RST]

For anyone wondering, the original Tabata protocol is described in this 1996 paper:
https://www.researchgate.net/file.PostF ... e2e9037031

It comprises a 10-min warmup followed by a series of very hard efforts of 20 seconds at a power equivalent to 170% of VO2max (work rate as determined by pre-testing) followed by 10 seconds of rest/recovery. Repeat for a total of 7-9 efforts (~4-minutes). If you can do more, then up the power next time, if you can't complete then adjust power demand accordingly. IOW the whole shebang takes about 15-minutes.

This is performed 4 times per week, with a lighter 5th day comprising half the number of HIIT efforts and 30-min of aerobic effort.

The training persists for 6 weeks.

In reality most are unable to either know what power 170% of VO2max represents nor have fine control over the power demand (requires a suitable adjustable ergometer), and so it's usually just performed as 7-9 x 20-sec all out / 10-sec recovery.

There have been many variants on the theme but not many I suspect follow the above protocol, rather they occasionally incorporate similar style of efforts into their training diet.

Use of HIIT protocol such as the above has received a lot of attention for the relatively quick benefit to both aerobic and anaerobic capacities for such a short time investment. However there are also issues with sustainability of such a regime and a plateau of performance gains after ~6 weeks.

Finally, such efforts are extremely strenuous and carry risk especially for those with higher propensity for cardiac conditions so due care is advised before undertaking them.

[steve-waters]

Thanks Alex for the wicked information - I always enjoy reading your information.

"There have been many variants on the theme but not many I suspect follow the above protocol, rather they occasionally incorporate similar style of efforts into their training diet."

It is unfortunate but like most things in life people have taken something that is actually quiet simple and stuffed with it changed it etc etc and called it the same thing. "Tabata intervals" is an over used term these days and often only refers to the timing of the work and recovery periods for example "standing on one leg on a fit ball while pressing a dumbbell Tabata workout do three rounds".