I've been toying around with a new sprinting routine, and so far it's been pretty favorable for me. It's a simple twist on the Tabata protocol. The Tabata routine is a 20 second sprint, followed by 10 seconds rest, and then immediately repeated for 7 more sets.
What I've done is just extend the rest periods out and incorporated it into a long walk. First, I take the distance I normally cover in 60 minutes of walking. Then, every five minutes of the walk, I perform a 15 to 20 second sprint. The long rest periods really make a difference as I don't feel exhausted after the workout, which is what sometimes happens after performing the traditional Tabata routine. Also, the sprints cut the total time of the walk from 60 minutes down to around 45 minutes or so.
This type of extended sprint workout, which I call the "Long Tabata," is probably better for weight loss/weight control due to its longer duration. It doesn't target aerobic fitness as much as the original Tabata workout, but that's a part of the trade-off.
I've been toying around with a new sprinting routine, and so far it's been pretty favorable for me. It's a simple twist on the Tabata protocol. The Tabata routine is a 20 second sprint, followed by 10 seconds rest, and then immediately repeated for 7 more sets.
What I've done is just extend the rest periods out and incorporated it into a long walk. First, I take the distance I normally cover in 60 minutes of walking. Then, every five minutes of the walk, I perform a 15 to 20 second sprint. The long rest periods really make a difference as I don't feel exhausted after the workout, which is what sometimes happens after performing the traditional Tabata routine. Also, the sprints cut the total time of the walk from 60 minutes down to around 45 minutes or so.
This type of extended sprint workout, which I call the "Long Tabata," is probably better for weight loss/weight control due to its longer duration. It doesn't target aerobic fitness as much as the original Tabata workout, but that's a part of the trade-off.