Tabata Training – Fat Loss On Speed?…by Brad Campbell

I received a few questions about tabata training, how it works and whether or not it can really cause rapid weight loss.  The tabata training method has recently become more popular, but this approach to working out is nothing new…in fact, I’ve been using the same metabolism-boosting principles long before I’d ever heard the term.

Only thing is, I wasn’t smart enough to coin my own term and I didn’t have a cool last name like Tabata, haha.

So what exactly is tabata training? Like I said, a guy by the name of Dr. Izumi Tabata, along with a team of mad scientists over in Tokyo, completed a study back in 1996 that served to challenge the notion that long, steady-state cardio workouts did NOT reign supreme when it comes to fat loss.

This particular protocol (aka the tabata protocol) used 20 seconds of all-out effort, followed by 10 seconds of rest and repeated this cycle nonstop for 8 rounds (or 4 minutes total).  Well-conditioned athletes were used in the study and they performed tabata training 4 times per week, plus one steady state workout and results were compared to 5 steady-state cardio workouts.

What were the results of this tabata training madness? The tabata group noticed a greater overall increase in VO2max, as well as a significant improvement in anaerobic capacity.  In other words, tabata training looked like the bomb diggity when compared to steady-state training, because it has the potential to burn more fat in much less time.  Like fat loss on speed, if you will.

Why is tabata training more effective than steady-state training? This all goes back to the advanced fat loss techniques I talk about all the time.  Most importantly, working out like a crazy person at 100% effort causes major oxygen debt.

You know how when you sprint or do anything really hard, you start huffing and puffing during the activity and almost more so when you stop?  Well, that’s because your muscles are short on oxygen and naturally, your body is going to increase breathing and heart rate in attempt to take in and shuttle more oxygen to the muscles.

This “repayment” of oxygen to the muscles, along with other hormonal processes, cellular repair, etc is referred to as excess post-exercise oxygen consumption (or EPOC, not to be confused with 2-Pac).  EPOC is joined by an increase in the oxidation of free fatty acids, that were released into the bloodstream during intense exercise, to be used as fuel.  To translate, you’re going to experience better fat loss.

This EPOC effect has been shown to last for anywhere from a few hours to as many as 72 hours post-workout.  You can see why it’s better to follow a training plan that burns more calories after the workout, then it is to follow a training plan that burns more calories during the workout, but much less after.

To break it down, would you rather burn more calories for 1-hour out of the day (during a 60-minute, low intensity jog on the treadmill) or would you rather burn more calories for the next, say 48 hours (thanks to a shorter, but higher intensity workout such as tabata training that causes a major EPOC effect)?

Another thing to point out is that the EPOC effect increases with the intensity and duration of the workout.  So, the greater the effort during your training, the more fat loss you get.  Duration is sort of a catch-22 because as training time increases, intensity falls off sharply.  This is why most traditional cardio sessions don’t produce a post-workout boost in metabolism.

This brings up a couple of great questions that one of my readers asked in regards to tabata training…

Is 4 minutes of tabata training really enough to produce better fat loss and does the intensity have to be all-out? At 100% effort level, yes I do believe 4-minutes is enough to not only achieve fat loss, but to achieve BETTER fat loss, as compared to a standard cardio session.  However, if you’re not able to put in that level of intensity, then 4-minutes is probably NOT going to get the job done.

Remember, I just said that the post-workout fat-burning effect is directly related to the intensity level and duration of the workout.  The perfect fat loss workout would therefore use a training regimen that can balance near all-out intensity with the longest duration possible.

I’ve found that my advanced fat loss workouts typically give the quickest fat loss when designed to require near-maximum intensity for a duration of 8 to 15 minutes.  When using interval type tactics, this allows my clients to keep up that very demanding effort level for 2 to 3 times longer than what the tabata training protocol recommends.

Assuming clients are still working at roughly 90% capacity or more, I feel that going slightly longer than the 4-minute tabata style is a better “sweet spot” for maximum fat loss.

To summarize, yes tabata training can be very effective, assuming you’re capable and willing to workout at 100% rock star level during bouts of 20 second intervals, for a duration of 4-minutes total.  If you can’t hit that level of effort, however, you’ll need to train for a longer period of time to create a significant EPOC effect.

To see even more fat loss, it’d be best to use near all-out intensity for even longer than 4-minutes, such as I recommend with my typical 15-minute”ish” workouts.  Lastly, you can really cash-in on some post-workout fat loss by selecting the most highly metabolic exercises to be used in tabata-like training routines.

—> This is exactly why I use heavy, explosive weight training and blend aspects of cardio routines, plyometrics and strength training all together, to form fat loss explosion “hybrid” workouts…that are done in circuit and interval fashion, at near all-out intensities, for a duration that I feel maximizes both factors responsible for EPOC (duration and intensity).

—> What does all this get you?  Fat loss on speed.  No variable is left unaccounted for when it comes to designing the absolute most effective and FAST fat loss and muscle sculpting training routines.  After all, I wouldn’t have named the site TopFatLossTrainer if I didn’t deserve it (wink).

I know this stuff can get uber confusing, so I hope this helps give you the low-down on tabata training, why it works and how the principles of tabata training can be maximized by tweaking other variables like duration, exercises chosen and the blending of workout styles.

Your Coach,

Brad Campbell

Posted in Fat Loss | Burn Fat Fast by Brad Campbell | 4 Comments