Most of us find it difficult to make time for exercising or even stepping out of their houses for a walk. If you are aiming for weight loss, you can accomplish that at home without using any equipment. Moreover, you will have to spare only 30 minutes from your entire day to achieve the best fitness levels. The short, intense workout is said to be more effective than hours of exercise in the gym or long distance. Let us unlock the secret to shed those extra kilos this season and motivate ourselves by enriching the feeling of healthiness within us. CrossFit vs Gym: Which Is Better? Here's Everything You Should Know.
Many beginners give up on exercise, as they lose hope of getting results and many feel it is not their cup of tea. But there can't be any gain without pain, as the saying goes.
If you are serious about fitness, here are short, intense workouts at home that can be performed by everyone -- from beginning to expert. You can increase the level of intensity and the difficulty levels as per your need. Here, we will discuss the Tabata workout, which is becoming quite popular these days.
What is Tabata?
Tabata is a form of High-Intensity Interval Training(HIIT), which consist of eight rounds of 20 seconds of exercise followed by 10 seconds of rest, which makes it a four-minute activity. This form of HIIT was developed by Izumi Tabata, a Japanese scientist, where he researched while training the Olympic Skating team of Japan for efficiency. His study showed that Olympic athletes improved their aerobic capacity as well as anaerobic capacity by 28 percent.
Beginner Guidance for Tabata Workout
To start, you will need to purchase an exercising mat and put on comfortable exercising clothes. Active stretching along with warm-ups like slight hoping is necessary, to prepare your body for the intense session. These warm-ups should not last more than 2-4 mins.
As a beginner, you need to perform four exercises of 20 seconds, each followed by 10 second break. After completing the first two minutes, you should start the same cycle again immediately. This will be your one set of this HIIT workout.
4 Exercises that you need to perform:
1. Jumping Jack
Method:
1. Your starting position should be standing still with legs straight and arms on your sides.
2. Jump up, spread your feet hip-width apart and bring your arms above your head at the same time.
3. Jump up again and lower your arms to the side of your body to come back to the starting position.
Perform this exercise first for 20 secs without any breaks, and try doing as many reps as possible.
2. High Knee Jump
Method:
1. Start by standing straight, bring your hand out in front of your body.
2. Jump in proper high knee form, by bringing one leg up at a time till the level of your arm.
3. Increase the pace of movement.
This will be the second exercise for this Tabata set. Again perform it for 20 secs followed by the rest of 10 secs.
3. Spiderman Plank
Method:
1. Start in a primary plank position with your back straight and knees locked. Both the elbows should be placed shoulder-width apart.
2. Bring your right knee up towards your right elbow and similarly do the same with the left knee.
3. Perform this smoothly by keeping your back in a stable position throughout the exercise.
Perform the 3rd exercise for 20 second without stopping and then take a 10 second break.
4. Air Bikes Exercise
Method:
1. Lie on your back on the floor in supine position.
2. Lift your shoulders in the crunch position and bring both your knees up so that they are perpendicular to the floor.
3. Bring your right elbow closer to your left knee. Similarly, do that with left elbow and right knee. Keep moving the leg in and out as if you are cycling lying down.
4. Note-you should not exhert any pressure on your spine. Perform it smoothly, as unnecessary rounding of the neck in this exercise can cause spondylosis.
This is the fourth exercise of theTabata cycle. Do this for 20 secs with maximum repetitions.
Once you are done with these four exercises as per the sequence mentioned above, you need to repeat the cycle immediately in the same manner. This will constitute full 4 minutes of Tabata workout.
If you are a beginner, you should perform two sets of this four-minute Tabata training and if you are an intermediate or an expert, you should do three and four sets respectively. There should not be a gap of more than 90 secs between two sets of 4 min Tabata Fat Loss Workout.
The Tabata form of HIIT will help in increasing your endurance levels and it will boost the fat burning activity within your body. This form exercises also works on your cardiovascular system, and it improves your heart health too. Remember, don't push beyond your maximum target heart rate, as this type of HIIT training can stress out the cardiovascular system. It is ideally recommended to train between 60 percent to 80 percent of your Target Heart Rate(THR), which is calculated by subtracting our age from 220. E.g. if you are 30 years old then your THR is 220-30=190.
(This article is written for an informative purpose and should not be substituted for medical advice. Kindly consult your doctor before trying any tips.)
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Mar 05, 2019 05:36 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).