Bio:
5'6" Male
Current weight: 147lbs
Goal: 6 pack abs
I started getting serious with weight lifting when I was a sophomore in high school. In all honesty, it was because I went from being obese to becoming really thin and weak. I wanted to bulk up a bit like any other guy whether it be for a beach body or to impress some girls. I am now 23 years old and pretty happy with my current look. It was not easy getting to this point. I tried everything I heard, the latest exercise fads, whatever. I even joined the power lifting team in college to learn how to lift with proper form. Through college I gained a lot of mass, mostly muscle and some fat. I gained a lot of strength, but I still had not achieved my life goal of getting the six pack abs. I hit that wall of slow to no progress. After much frustration I started looking up alternatives to running that 30min a day on the treadmill as well as proper nutrition. I looked into interval training and tried that for a bit. Still, I did not achieve the results I was looking for. I then started to research it a bit more and stumbled upon Tabata training. This stroke a luck has changed my whole outlook on fitness and has allowed me to start progress once again toward that 6 pack body. Essentially, Tabata training is an intense form of interval training (seems redundant). It is more a template for exercises rather than a specific exercise. That is the beauty of it, it can be applied to anything from boxing and sprinting to swimming. The premise is that the individual performs an exercise or set of exercises at max intensity, or pretty much as hard as one can go, for 10-20 seconds followed by rest periods of 10-20 seconds. This is repeated for about 4 min of intense exercise (not including rest nice try!). I will stand behind my words and say that this 4min of hell easily meets or exceeds calories burned from running for 30-40min at target heart rate. It sounds too good to be true, but I use to be one of those guys that ran for 50min four times a week and I know for a fact I am achieving far more in terms of fat loss than I ever have. I also have been pretty scientific about it by maintaining a consistent diet, weight training program, and sleep schedule. The science behind it from what I have concluded is that your body consumes so much oxygen and burns through so much muscular glycogen, compared to steady exercise, that your metabolism receives a major boost all day (EPOC). Since your metabolism is running all day, your body is burning through calories like crazy. This in conjunction with weight training and a fat loss diet that includes lots of protein and healthy snacking/6 moderate meals a day keeps your metabolism running full strength all day. Because it keeps your metabolism running all day, I definitely recommend doing it in the morning before work/school. For those that have busy mornings, remember that the cardio is only 4min long. So you can probably fit cardio in during the morning and weight lift after the day is over if you are short on time.
Important points:
1. Tabata is completely customized to each person in terms of the exercises themselves and length of exercise/rest duration. Try 2min at first and slowly build up to 4min.
2. Intensity level is relative to a person's physical conditioning which makes Tabata an ever evolving exercise template because as one improves conditioning, one can bump up intensity
3. Going off #2, Tabata can be done with others that have varying physical conditioning since max intensity is relative to each individual
4. I recommend Tabata be done in the morning so your metabolism is at a boost all day. Adding to that, I also believe having a light snack before hand helps prepare your body. I eat a slice of ham, but I believe any light serving of a health food would do whether it be a handful of almonds or even some protein.
5. I DO NOT recommend trying to achieve 4min for the first time, your body needs time to adjust to the incredible intensity of whatever exercises you choose. Also try limiting Tabata routines to about 3 times a week at least to start. I have moved on to doing 4min routines 3 times a week with 2min routines in between for a total of 5 days of cardio (at 16min total for the week I might add!)
6. As some exercise ideas try boxing, burpees, mountain climbers, body squats, knee raises, and ladder drills. There are hundreds of combinations of exercises one can choose to incorporate into the Tabata routine. Some advanced users even use weighted exercises, but I recommend saving that for later. The web is also very handy too since many Tabata users have posted videos and blogs about different exercises.
7. Like any exercise routine use common sense. If Tabata is causing too much pain modify the type of exercise/duration or work on your conditioning.
8. As with any exercise routine, a proper diet is 100% necessary to achieve your goals. Keep this in mind!
Note: For those with smart phones, there are a few free Tabata timer apps on the android market that make it incredibly easy to perform your exercises without interruption or the need to watch a clock.
My routine: This is what I do during the week if you need some guidance (it is by no means perfect, but this is what I do while I continue to research)
Monday: 4 min of boxing; For the first 20 second block of intensity I do heavy punches; Next 20seconds I do rapid jabs, For the 3rd 20second block I do rapid knee raises while stationary; I repeat this cycle until I hit my 4min(it won't come out even of course but I change up the order every week). Shoulders and back lifting;Abs (45min)
Tuesday: I do a series of 4 exercises for my 20sec intensity blocks: 1. Rapid body squats 2. Burpees, 3. Mountain climbers 4. Stationary knee raises
Wednesday: Same as Monday. I work Arms and Chest;Abs (1 hr.)
Thursday: Same as Tuesday
Friday: I do ladder drills (remember this in High School football!). I do not do anything specifically, I more focus on going back and forth the ladder as quickly as possible (max intensity after all). I do leg work on Friday to maintain a balance among muscles worked. I do lower body workouts including legs on Friday. I cheat a little since it is Friday after all. After doing the Friday Tabata my legs are pretty tired so my lift workout is about 30min;Abs
I found that this workout works your speed and core as well which is always a bonus. I am also a firm believe in adequate rest for muscle repair which is why each muscle group gets a week of rest.
Diet: I eat tuna, oatmeal, peanutbutter, almonds, multigrain bread, and avocado. I drink whey protein.
I currently am on a -300 calorie deficit for fat loss. 2300 calories needed; I consume 2000. At this rate I lose roughly 1lb of fat every week and a half. Do not go crazy with your calorie deficit. If it becomes too large (say -1000 to -1500) your body will go into survival mode and grip the fat stores in your body tightly which is very counterproductive.
I recommend using tools online to calculate Daily Caloric needs as well as carb/protein/fat proportions to maximize diet accuracy.
Example: . Try and compare a few to get the general idea since these are formula estimates.
Additional Reading: Here are some sites to read up on Tabata and Intensity Training if you are unfamiliar
1.
2.
3.
End Note: After trying almost everything there is out there, I think I have found something that is very efficient in terms of calories burned as well as time efficient. I am not too proud to say what I have said is not perfect, it is my understanding from what I have read as well as trial and error. Please feel free to provide corrections or add any comments that would help benefit us all! I hope I help some of you achieve the you that you want to be proud of. Thanks for reading
5'6" Male
Current weight: 147lbs
Goal: 6 pack abs
I started getting serious with weight lifting when I was a sophomore in high school. In all honesty, it was because I went from being obese to becoming really thin and weak. I wanted to bulk up a bit like any other guy whether it be for a beach body or to impress some girls. I am now 23 years old and pretty happy with my current look. It was not easy getting to this point. I tried everything I heard, the latest exercise fads, whatever. I even joined the power lifting team in college to learn how to lift with proper form. Through college I gained a lot of mass, mostly muscle and some fat. I gained a lot of strength, but I still had not achieved my life goal of getting the six pack abs. I hit that wall of slow to no progress. After much frustration I started looking up alternatives to running that 30min a day on the treadmill as well as proper nutrition. I looked into interval training and tried that for a bit. Still, I did not achieve the results I was looking for. I then started to research it a bit more and stumbled upon Tabata training. This stroke a luck has changed my whole outlook on fitness and has allowed me to start progress once again toward that 6 pack body. Essentially, Tabata training is an intense form of interval training (seems redundant). It is more a template for exercises rather than a specific exercise. That is the beauty of it, it can be applied to anything from boxing and sprinting to swimming. The premise is that the individual performs an exercise or set of exercises at max intensity, or pretty much as hard as one can go, for 10-20 seconds followed by rest periods of 10-20 seconds. This is repeated for about 4 min of intense exercise (not including rest nice try!). I will stand behind my words and say that this 4min of hell easily meets or exceeds calories burned from running for 30-40min at target heart rate. It sounds too good to be true, but I use to be one of those guys that ran for 50min four times a week and I know for a fact I am achieving far more in terms of fat loss than I ever have. I also have been pretty scientific about it by maintaining a consistent diet, weight training program, and sleep schedule. The science behind it from what I have concluded is that your body consumes so much oxygen and burns through so much muscular glycogen, compared to steady exercise, that your metabolism receives a major boost all day (EPOC). Since your metabolism is running all day, your body is burning through calories like crazy. This in conjunction with weight training and a fat loss diet that includes lots of protein and healthy snacking/6 moderate meals a day keeps your metabolism running full strength all day. Because it keeps your metabolism running all day, I definitely recommend doing it in the morning before work/school. For those that have busy mornings, remember that the cardio is only 4min long. So you can probably fit cardio in during the morning and weight lift after the day is over if you are short on time.
Important points:
1. Tabata is completely customized to each person in terms of the exercises themselves and length of exercise/rest duration. Try 2min at first and slowly build up to 4min.
2. Intensity level is relative to a person's physical conditioning which makes Tabata an ever evolving exercise template because as one improves conditioning, one can bump up intensity
3. Going off #2, Tabata can be done with others that have varying physical conditioning since max intensity is relative to each individual
4. I recommend Tabata be done in the morning so your metabolism is at a boost all day. Adding to that, I also believe having a light snack before hand helps prepare your body. I eat a slice of ham, but I believe any light serving of a health food would do whether it be a handful of almonds or even some protein.
5. I DO NOT recommend trying to achieve 4min for the first time, your body needs time to adjust to the incredible intensity of whatever exercises you choose. Also try limiting Tabata routines to about 3 times a week at least to start. I have moved on to doing 4min routines 3 times a week with 2min routines in between for a total of 5 days of cardio (at 16min total for the week I might add!)
6. As some exercise ideas try boxing, burpees, mountain climbers, body squats, knee raises, and ladder drills. There are hundreds of combinations of exercises one can choose to incorporate into the Tabata routine. Some advanced users even use weighted exercises, but I recommend saving that for later. The web is also very handy too since many Tabata users have posted videos and blogs about different exercises.
7. Like any exercise routine use common sense. If Tabata is causing too much pain modify the type of exercise/duration or work on your conditioning.
8. As with any exercise routine, a proper diet is 100% necessary to achieve your goals. Keep this in mind!
Note: For those with smart phones, there are a few free Tabata timer apps on the android market that make it incredibly easy to perform your exercises without interruption or the need to watch a clock.
My routine: This is what I do during the week if you need some guidance (it is by no means perfect, but this is what I do while I continue to research)
Monday: 4 min of boxing; For the first 20 second block of intensity I do heavy punches; Next 20seconds I do rapid jabs, For the 3rd 20second block I do rapid knee raises while stationary; I repeat this cycle until I hit my 4min(it won't come out even of course but I change up the order every week). Shoulders and back lifting;Abs (45min)
Tuesday: I do a series of 4 exercises for my 20sec intensity blocks: 1. Rapid body squats 2. Burpees, 3. Mountain climbers 4. Stationary knee raises
Wednesday: Same as Monday. I work Arms and Chest;Abs (1 hr.)
Thursday: Same as Tuesday
Friday: I do ladder drills (remember this in High School football!). I do not do anything specifically, I more focus on going back and forth the ladder as quickly as possible (max intensity after all). I do leg work on Friday to maintain a balance among muscles worked. I do lower body workouts including legs on Friday. I cheat a little since it is Friday after all. After doing the Friday Tabata my legs are pretty tired so my lift workout is about 30min;Abs
I found that this workout works your speed and core as well which is always a bonus. I am also a firm believe in adequate rest for muscle repair which is why each muscle group gets a week of rest.
Diet: I eat tuna, oatmeal, peanutbutter, almonds, multigrain bread, and avocado. I drink whey protein.
I currently am on a -300 calorie deficit for fat loss. 2300 calories needed; I consume 2000. At this rate I lose roughly 1lb of fat every week and a half. Do not go crazy with your calorie deficit. If it becomes too large (say -1000 to -1500) your body will go into survival mode and grip the fat stores in your body tightly which is very counterproductive.
I recommend using tools online to calculate Daily Caloric needs as well as carb/protein/fat proportions to maximize diet accuracy.
Example: . Try and compare a few to get the general idea since these are formula estimates.
Additional Reading: Here are some sites to read up on Tabata and Intensity Training if you are unfamiliar
1.
2.
3.
End Note: After trying almost everything there is out there, I think I have found something that is very efficient in terms of calories burned as well as time efficient. I am not too proud to say what I have said is not perfect, it is my understanding from what I have read as well as trial and error. Please feel free to provide corrections or add any comments that would help benefit us all! I hope I help some of you achieve the you that you want to be proud of. Thanks for reading