We’re huge fans of short, effective workouts. Most of our movement time is spent walking and doing things we love. Traditional “exercise” is just a supplement to that lifestyle.
If you’re looking for a fast, 20 minute fat burning workout to start adding in one to two times a week, Tabata sprinting is our top recommendation.
The Tabata concept is simple. You do an activity or exercise at max effort for a specific amount of time, followed by a rest period.
Our version of Tabata sprinting is great for improving both aerobic and anaerobic capacity. It’s an efficient fat burning tool. It’s a good change of pace from running(which we’re not fans of) and just plain old sprinting (it’s a bit tougher). It’s got a lot of things going for it.
Here’s how to do it…
- Do a quick dynamic warm up for five minutes.
- Jog for 5 minutes.
- At the five minute mark, begin your first sprint (10 seconds — maximum output).
- Slow back to a jog for 25 seconds.
- Sprint again for 10 seconds (again, max output).
- Slow back to a jog for 25 seconds.
- That’s one set (60 seconds). Complete 5 to 10 sets (depending on your individual capacity).
- Finish with a 5 minute cool-down jog.
The key is that your body never stops moving. The jogging in between sprints is the rest period.
As you can see, with the dynamic warm-up and opening/closing jog, this is still only a 20-25 minute workout. And it’s guaranteed to kick your butt even though you’re only doing 5-10 minutes of real work.
Keep in mind that this isn’t something you have to do week in and week out. Our philosophy is that you should do workouts that you’re inspired to do. If you’re not feelin’ it, do something else. This isn’t about going to war with your body, so if that’s the mindset you’re in, take a break.
