What is Tabata?

If you are like me, life can get a bit crazy leaving you almost NO time to workout at all. For those days that are even too crazy for me to put in one of my DVDs, I turn to my Office Lady Tabata workout.

Simply put, Tabata goes a little something like this:

Workout hard for 20 seconds
Rest for 10 seconds
Repeat that 8 times
1 Minute Rest in-between exercises

So for example, let's say you are doing mountain climbers. You would go hard with those for 20 seconds, rest 10 seconds, and then repeat that circuit 8 more times. Once finished, you get a 1 minute rest before you go onto your next exercise.

The benefits? Increased burn rate of calories and fat even when you are not working out

You can do a Tabata-style workout with basically any sort of fitness moves - upper body, lower body, cardio, you name it. They are great for when you are short on time, want a burst of energy, and need to stay on track.

Here is a sample workout that I do when I just have 20 Minutes to spare **Please note, you need to warm up, so I added in an additional set to gradually increase my heart rate and warm up the muscles**

Warm Up:
Jog (progressively faster throughout the 8 rounds to warm up, get your blood pumping, etc)

Tabata Workout:
Jumping Jacks
Speed Skaters
Floor Sprints
High Knees
Push Ups

Try this out on your lunch break and get increased calorie burn through out the day, a small ass, thinner thighs, a shrinking waste line and a burst of energy to carry you into your afternoon.

Oh, and did you know the new Insanity Max 30 has some workouts that are based off of this very model? Can't wait - increased results, increased burn, so much less TIME!!