As the general public becomes more aware that interval training can burn 9 times more fat than steady-state cardio training they’ll look high and low for that miraculous interval program that will give them the greatest results in the least amount of time.  People are ALWAYS looking for what can be done with the least amount of effort and in the shortest amount of time.  Let’s face it no one wants to exert more effort than needed to drop a few pounds of excess body fat after working an 8-10 hour day.

This is where the ever-so-popular “4-Minute Workouts” have come into play.  The 4-minute protocol comes from the World-Renowned Tabata Protocol.  In 1996, while working with the Japanese speed skating team, Dr. Izumi Tabata and 6 of his colleagues from the National Institute of Fitness and Sports in Japan, conducted a study on the effects of moderate-intensity (steady-state) cardio versus high-intensity interval training.  The study showed a significant advantage for performing high-intensity intervals over moderate-intensity aerobics.

Dr. Izumi Tabata

The 4-minute Tabata protocol is very straightforward to follow.  Its simply 20 seconds of work, followed by 10 seconds of rest, repeated 8 times (4 total minutes).  As elementary as that may sound, it’s not that easy.  So many people are misinformed right now that 4 minutes is all they need to achieve the physical shape of their dreams while others are on the other end of the spectrum and have the mindset that more is better (spending 1-2 hours a day exercising).  In the original Tabata study they used well-conditioned athletes who pushed themselves to 170% of their VO2max (measure of intensity) every working interval.  If you’ve never had a cardiac stress test done before, you can’t even begin to understand how high of an intensity that is.  Back in college I had the luxury of doing this test myself and its absolutely brutal.

It annoys the hell out of me when I see people performing what they would like to think as intervals.  If you plan on getting any benefit out of something as short as a 4-minute workout, you better be training at an intensity where you can almost feel your heart coming up into your throat.  Sadly, many people can’t push themselves to this degree safely and effectively to notice any real benefit (other than getting real good at bitching and complaining about how hard it is).  If you’re not giving a maximum effort for 20 seconds for all 8 rounds of the protocol then don’t even attempt it.

This protocol is also unique because it uses negative rest periods where you’re resting only half of the time you’re actually working.  Many performance based interval programs usually have you rest 2-3 times the length of what you’re actually working (example: if you sprint for 60 seconds, you may walk for 2-3 minutes in between).  What I recommend for people not ready for the negative rest periods is to start out with 30:30 or 60:60 intervals.  This would mean that you would perform a 30 second interval followed by 30 seconds of rest (repeated anywhere from 6-8 times).

Although this protocol is awesome for cardiovascular training it would be completely Stupid Gym Shit to apply to it strength training, which many people continue to do.  Aside from explosive athletes, I would NEVER recommend anyone to lift any amount of weight as fast as they could for 20 continuous seconds, rest 10 seconds, and then repeat it again (that’s just asking for an injury).  Besides the injury risks involved, it completely decreases your strength and power output by the end of the first 20-second set (because you’re practically going to failure in the 20 seconds of work).  The only way you would be able to continue with this protocol, would be to use the little pink dumbbells located in the aerobics room.

Last year I had the privilege of being on a radio show with Billy Beck III and Dr. William Kraemer.  Dr. Kraemer is one of the World’s top exercise research scientists. I had the opportunity to ask him what his own personal opinion of the Tabata 4-minute protocol.  Dr. Kraemer stated that most of the 4-minute protocols are strictly advantageous for metabolic conditioning alone (cool way of saying cardiovascular conditioning).  Because the rest periods are so short (10 seconds) and don’t allow for complete recovery in between sets it’s not going to give you any benefit in regards to strength or power.

Unless you can safely run yourself into the ground in 4 minutes, I suggest adding a little bit more time to your training session.  What I’ve found extremely effective is performing some sort of resistance training for about 30-40 minutes, and then add an additional 10-15 of intense intervals.  This allows adequate time to train all energy systems (aerobic and anaerobic) efficiently in one session without compromising strength or power.  Not to mention you’re in and out of the gym in 60 minutes.  If you don’t think strength and power are important then hopefully you’ll feel content with yourself walking around like a soggy piece of wonder bread because you do nothing but cardiovascular exercise, leading to a thin but still fat physique.

Below is a list of some of my favorite movements when performing Tabata Intervals. Be sure to check out the video of the more advanced movements, demonstrated by my good friend and fitness competitor, Paul Gram Jr.  Remember that if you’re going to attempt this, it’s maximum effort for every 20-second interval.  If you pace yourself during the 20 seconds and then say to yourself “This isn’t so bad”,  I’ll personally throw a frozen water bottle at you! Intervals suck and never get easier if you progressively challenge yourself as your conditioning increases.  Give some of these a try, share them with friends, and let me know what you think. For a few other interval programs click here and here.  Enjoy!

Paul Gram Jr.

Sprints on the treadmill

Heavy Rope Jumps

Squat Jumps

Split-Squat Plyometrics

Box Jumps

Kettlebell Swings

Burpees

Punching Heavy Bag (fast!)

Prowler Push

Battle Rope

AirDyne Bike