What is Tabata Training?

(From Active.com)

 

There are various workout styles that you may have heard about; all styles are meant to help you reach your fitness goal. You may want to increase strength, lose weight, improve flexibility or build muscle. All in all, most exercise programs can help you reach whatever your goal is as long as you stick to a plan. Well, here's another type of workout you can add to your list—Tabata training.

Tabata training is a High Intensity Interval Training (H.I.I.T) workout that lasts four minutes. 

The History of Tabata

Tabata training was discovered by Japanese scientist Dr. Izumi Tabata and a team of researchers from the National Institute of Fitness and Sports in Tokyo.

Tabata and his team conducted research on two groups of athletes: one group trained at a moderate intensity level while the other group trained at a high intensity level. The moderate intensity group worked out five days a week for a total of six weeks; each workout lasted one hour. The high intensity group worked out four days a week for six weeks; each workout lasted four minutes and 20 seconds (with 10 seconds of rest in between each set).

The results; group one had increased their aerobic system (cardiovascular), but showed little or no results for their anaerobic system (muscle). Group two showed much more increase in their aerobic system than group one, and increased their anaerobic system by 28 percent. 

In conclusion, high intensity interval training has more impact on both the aerobic and anaerobic systems. 

The Tabata Program

The Tabata workout lasts only four minutes, but is one of the longest four minutes you'll encounter. The structure of the program is: 

Workout hard for 20 seconds

Rest for 10 seconds

Complete eight rounds

You push yourself as hard as you can for 20 seconds and rest for 10 seconds until you complete eight sets. You can do pretty much any exercise you wish. You can do squats, pushups, rows, etc... Any exercise that works your large muscle groups is strongly recommended. Kettlebells work great too.

Tabata is great to get a quick workout in if you're short on time, need to switch up your routine, or need to improve endurance speed. Incorporate this type of workout into your fitness routine and produce results.

Trapped by stress, guilt or lack of motivation?

The other day I was sitting at a stop light and my mind was wandering a little, maybe thinking about the song on the radio.  Next think I know, I was rolling backwards!  I slammed on the brakes and… then realized that I never moved. The car in the turning lane next to me decided to pull forward and my brain thought I was the one moving.  Aside from nearly giving myself a heart attack, no harm was done.

When work is getting really busy, I start experiencing professional vertigo that is the mental equivalent to what happened to me at the stop light.  I start to feel like everything in life has stayed the same, but I am moving backwards and can’t catch up. Ever had that feeling?  The truth is, that MY light is going to be red until after work slows down and it’s just not my turn to go forward yet. I have to remind myself that I’m not really going backwards – it only feels that way. 

It can be difficult to exercise when it feels like life responsibilities are a boa constrictor around your neck.  But it's not just public accountants that feel this way.  Many moms have described feeling that there is so much to do that when they take time for themselves, guilt shows up.  Maybe this is related to the fact that tons of people are giving crappy advice on being the perfect mother, but for fathers everyone is just happy if you don’t spend 20 hours per week watching sports. Ironically, knowing that you should be taking care of yourself becomes just another thing that you SHOULD be doing and are failing at.  Sigh. 

Whether you are a public accountant, a parent, or just super busy, research shows that pent up stress can cause depression, anxiety, crankiness, mood swings, headaches, insomnia and chronic guilt.  

Whether you are caring for a family, a client or just caring for yourself, you need to start taking your mental health seriously.   It’s not okay to be permanently stressed and overwhelmed.

Here are some things you can try out to ease your mind:

If you are overwhelmed and stressed STOP ADDING THINGS TO YOUR LIFE! Stop saying yes.  Stop it. Say no.  Say it right now.  Practice it.  If the PTA or neighborhood watch needs volunteers, say no.  If your kid wants to take up soccer or shark wrestling say NO.  If someone with cancer in your neighborhood wants you to bake 1,000 cookies for a bake sale, SAY NO!  Try out this sentence:  “No, I can’t watch your (insert curseword) kid for the afternoon”.  Say NO to everything you can. You can take on some more stuff once you stop feeling like your Titanic is taking on water.  If you can’t say NO, I am offering my services.  For $1 per incident I will call whomever you want and tell them NO for you. 

You are a person too.  If something comes up where you really NEED to help someone -  like say… a sick friend who needs you – for Pete’s sake get some help for yourself first! You have a bunch of people who would love nothing more than to help you, but you are always trying to do stuff on your own, aren't you?  If a friend called me and said they had a toilet that needed scrubbing; I would laugh but I would be there in 30 minutes.  If you aren’t a friend, I will tell you NO.  Clearly you skipped the previous paragraph. Forbes Woman research showed that for working women, it’s not simply a matter of not being ABLE to ask for help.  They actually don’t WANT to because it may endanger their sense of being a good wife, mother, or employee.  If that sounds like you – then you need to talk that out with someone and find a healthier alternative.

Relax better, EVERYDAY. Take time every day to do something you find relaxing. Maybe it’s only 5 minutes on some days.  So what?  Take 5 minutes then.  Do something you enjoy.  If you feel guilty just remind yourself that you can’t help other people when you are a wreck.  Imagine that you are on an airplane.  You are strapping on your oxygen mask so you can help others later.  If someone is telling you that you SHOULD feel guilty for taking time for yourself, you need to have an upfront conversation with them about…  shutting up.  Ok I’m kidding.  Sort of.  Be nicer than that. Or not.  Your important relationships deserve your full attention – recognize that you are included in that list.  You deserve your full attention also.  If you have consistent guilt problems, check out this article or talk to someone who can lead you out of your guilt cycle.

Exercise is good for the mind. When it comes to mental health, one of the cheapest and most effective things you can do is exercise.  In many demographics, research has shown that exercise is more effective at improving mood than anti-depressants.  Just do it for 10 minutes a day.  Exercise will also increase your energy and help combat insomnia.  Exercise is more about consistency than intensity, so don’t worry if you are not running marathons.  Just start doing SOMETHING.  Most people find exercise is easier to do if you do it in the morning before life gets crazy.

Vitamin D. If it is winter, and you are feeling perpetually stressed or overwhelmed, get your vitamin D levels checked. If you’ve never had this done give it a shot.  If you are low, a little Vitamin D supplement can help quite a bit.

Stop eating junk. When your blood sugar is all over the place, it can mess up your moods and wear you down.  Eat better foods and try to get a lean protein every 3-4 hours.  This will help level out the swings in blood sugar and make it easier for you to handle stress.

Set lower goals. Yeah, I said it.  All the self-help gurus and people who make money by bossing other people around can shut their traps.  Stop reviewing everything that needs to be done each day.  Set a minimum and when you meet that line, you have succeeded even if you get nothing else done.  Here’s a good minimum – Go to work, complete 1 load of laundry and 15 minutes of exercise.  Or…  Cook Dinner, do 1 load of dishes and 15 minutes of cycling.   Doing a couple of things consistently every day will make a much bigger difference than burning yourself out trying to do everything.  What good will a perfectly clean house be if you don’t get to enjoy it because you are wearing a straitjacket in a padded room?

Be more Zen.  Stop half doing things.  Have you ever pushed through 6 loads of laundry only to run out of energy before putting away the Mount Everest of clean clothes?  Do 1 load of laundry and don’t start another until that load is put away.  If you are cooking, don’t think about anything but cooking.  Notice everything you can about the experience of chopping those vegetables. When you are doing a chore you hate (matching socks!) use it to practice accepting things you can’t change.  Practice being okay with it.  It all sounds a little silly, but you are trying to teach your mind to take a break from its incessant whining and worrying.  It is just as important to rest your mind as it is to rest your body.

Conclusion:  There are lots of ways to deal with stress.  The worst way is to drown yourself in distractions, bad habits or worrying.  Choose two of the above things and do it for two weeks.  If it doesn't make a difference, I have a money back guarantee.