No time to train? It’s not a problem! Six Tabata-themed workouts will unleash an anabolic burst of all major muscle groups in a few fast, furious minutes.

Author: Alex Savva

I confess. Finishing this article turned out to be more difficult than I thought. With the deadline approaching, I was desperately trying to keep up with unpacking things after my recent move and doing a bunch of things from an endless list, so there was practically no time to sit down and finish writing the material. Still, I knew that one snippet had already been completed, and I was not going to let the priority goals – or my workouts! – disappear from the radar.

The bottom line is that we have a lot in common. Unless you’re the kid of the founder of some trust fund who plays the fool all day, you know how consistently life interferes with our plans. There is always something to do, and this endless string of to-do items steals precious moments from your day. And now it is already nine in the evening, the sun has set for a long time, and you have not even thought about starting your daily training session.

I run into problems like this all the time and, like you, I hate skipping workouts. So I found an elegant solution to the problem that is guaranteed to guide me towards my fitness goals and to keep me from skipping workouts. How did I manage it? Well, I got smart: I combined the principles of Tabata cardio training with strength training and got a fast, hard and effective workout that allows you to complete it in a time equal to a short snippet of a regular training session.

Will there be 4 minutes?

If you’ve read my previous articles, such as “The Four Most Effective Ways to Burn Fat,” you’ve heard of Tabata training. As a specific training method, Tabata training appeared in 1996 after a study conducted by the Japanese researcher Dr. Izumi Tabata in a group of Olympic speed skaters with a very high level of functional fitness.

The subjects completed 7-8 rounds of 20-second cycling at 170% of their maximum oxygen consumption and rested for 10 seconds after each lap. A short workout – about four minutes for everything – was more effective in increasing aerobic and anaerobic endurance than longer, moderate-intensity cardio workouts done the same number of times per week.

Another experiment published in 2013 took Tabata training to the next level. The study used the basic Tabata protocol, but included four full 4-minute rounds in one workout with one minute rest in between. During this 20-minute workout, the subjects burned 240-360 calories, and at the same time received a tremendous increase in energy expenditure over the next few days.

Each workout below is only four minutes long, but you can combine them into one – with a minute of rest between sets of exercises – for an equally intense and effective session.

Strength training in Tabata style

Although it is primarily used with aerobic activity, the benefits of Tabata workout go far beyond cardio and fat burning. 20-second assaults are great for lifting heavy weights, forcing the muscles to work at a submaximal level. All you have to do is find the right weight, which is what this super-effective workout plan requires of you.

For the workouts suggested, I suggest you start at 50% of the weight you normally use to induce instant muscle failure on a standard 10-rep set. And only after getting used to these Tabata workouts, you can methodically increase the load. In other words, don’t let your vanity push you to too much weight!

For the pace of your reps, make them explosive – but controlled – a positive contraction followed by a controlled negative phase, without long pauses. Your goal is to complete as many clean, technical reps as possible in a 20 second interval.

6 examples of Tabata-style workouts

To get the most out of your Tabata-style workouts, make sure you warm up well and group several exercises that will work multiple muscle groups at the same time.

Each of these workouts is only four minutes long and consists of four exercises. You are given 20 seconds to complete one exercise, followed by 10 seconds of rest during the transition between exercises. You will complete eight rounds in total.

Breast workout

Back workout

Shoulder workout

Leg workout

Hand training

Abs workout

Taking a shortcut to success

Of course, the exercises listed above are not set in stone. You are free to change them to similar ones or to your favorite ones to bring a fresh stream to each workout, especially if you have already used the exercise several times.

For example, the bench press can be replaced with an incline press, dumbbell press, Smith machine press, or hammer grip dumbbell press; free weight hand information can be replaced with hand information in the simulator (Butterfly) or crossover. And regular push-ups can be replaced with push-ups on the uneven bars. The key is adherence to the Tabata protocol, not any specific exercise choice.

Here are some alternatives for each exercise:

• Pullups: pull of the upper block to the chest, pull of the upper block behind the head, pull-ups with a counterweight
  
• One-handed row: Bent-over barbell, T-bar barbell, lower block barbell, machine link bar
  
• Seated Overhead Press: overhead press, standing dumbbell press, Arnold press, vertical row (barbell pull to the chin)
  
• Breeding dumbbells to the sides in an incline: abduction of the arm in an incline on the block, breeding dumbbells while sitting in an incline, raising the arms in the simulator (reverse butterfly)
  
• Raising dumbbells to the sides: taking the arm to the side on the block (with one or two hands), raising the arms in the simulator, lifting the kettlebell
  
• Frontal lift of the bar: alternate frontal lifting of dumbbells, raising arms in front of you in a cable simulator, raising arms in front of you on a lying block
  
• Jump Squats: step or step jump, dumbbell squat, barbell squat
  
• Onsite lunges: walking lunges, side lunges, circular lunges
  
• Lifting the bar for biceps while standing: standing EZ barbell lift, barbell or EZ barbell lift on Scott bench, single arm dumbbell lift on Scott bench, arm curls on Scott bench
  
• Parallel Bar Dips: bench press, French bench press, bench press with a narrow grip
  
• Hammer biceps curl: dumbbell lifting with a hammer on Scott’s bench, spider curls for biceps, lifting dumbbells on an incline bench, lifting an EZ bar with a reverse grip
  
• Extension on the upper block: extension on a block with a rope handle, extension with a V-handle, extension of the arms over the head with a rope handle, extension of the arms with dumbbells overhead, push-ups in the simulator
  
• Twisting “Bicycle”: double crunches, crunches on the block, crunches in the machine for the press
  
• Side bar: regular plank, oblique twists, twists on an incline bench
  
• Hanging Knee Raises: hanging legs, hanging knees (holding a fitball between the legs), lying legs (on a bench or on the floor)

Let’s go for a drive!

You can use these workouts at any time, as soon as you have a free minute. You can do one set for a quick blast, or combine a couple of sessions if you want to build more muscle groups. And if you are lucky enough to get more than a few free minutes, you can try to carry out a hellish workout for the whole body, completing all the proposed complexes one by one. In this case, I advise you to start with the legs and back, and finish with the muscles of the arms and trunk.

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