What Tabata training really is: the 20/10 protocol and the study behind it
The short answer
Tabata training is eight rounds of 20 seconds of all-out work and 10 seconds of rest, four minutes in total. It comes from a 1996 study led by Izumi Tabata, in which seven men did it on exercise bikes at about 170% of their VO2max, five days a week for six weeks. Their VO2max rose by about 7 ml/kg/min and their anaerobic capacity by 28%. The format only works at that near-maximal intensity.
“Tabata” on a gym timetable usually means 45 minutes of 20-second exercises. The original is four minutes long, and the people doing it could not finish a ninth round. The name is the same; the workout is not.
The protocol
- 20 seconds of work, as hard as you can go
- 10 seconds of rest
- 8 rounds
- 4 minutes in total
That is all of it. There is one exercise, no stations, and nothing after round eight.
The study behind it
The routine was used by Japan’s speed skating team. Izumi Tabata and colleagues measured what it did, and published the result in Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise in 1996. They compared two groups training on exercise bikes for six weeks, five days a week:
| Moderate group | Interval group | |
|---|---|---|
| Session | 60 minutes of steady cycling | 7 to 8 rounds of 20 s on, 10 s off |
| Intensity | About 70% of VO2max | About 170% of VO2max |
| VO2max after 6 weeks | Up by about 5 ml/kg/min | Up by about 7 ml/kg/min |
| Anaerobic capacity | No significant change | Up by 28% |
Two details get lost in the retelling. The load was set so that riders were exhausted within seven or eight rounds; when someone could complete more, the resistance went up. And 170% of VO2max is well beyond the hardest pace you could hold for a few minutes. It is a sprint, repeated on almost no rest.
So the finding was not that four minutes of exercise beats an hour. It was that four minutes of near-maximal work, in a small group of seven fit young men, improved both aerobic and anaerobic fitness, while an hour of steady work improved only the aerobic side.
Why gym Tabata is easier
Burpees or kettlebell swings for 20 seconds are hard, but few people can reach that intensity with them, and nobody can hold it for eight consecutive blocks over 40 minutes. If you can do a second Tabata straight after the first, the first one was not one. That does not make those classes bad. They are ordinary interval training, and the 2:1 ratio is a reasonable one for conditioning.
A fair test: by round six you should be seriously doubting round eight.
How to do one properly
- Warm up for five to ten minutes, including a few short hard bursts. Going from cold to maximum is how people tear something.
- Pick one movement you can do flat out and stop instantly. A stationary bike or a rower is closest to the study. Sprints, burpees and bodyweight squats work. Heavy or technical lifts do not, because form goes first.
- Go as hard as you can from round one. Pacing yourself to survive eight rounds is what turns it into a moderate workout.
- Count your reps or watch the bike’s power. If round eight is within a rep or two of round one, you held back.
- Stop after eight. Cool down with a few easy minutes.
Two or three times a week is plenty next to other training. If you have a heart condition, high blood pressure, or have not exercised in a while, speak to a doctor first; this is the most intense format there is.
Running the clock
Ten seconds is too short to look at a phone. The Tabata timer is set to 20/10 × 8 when the page opens: press start and put the phone down. A lead-in gives you time to get into position and is not counted in the four minutes. The whole screen changes colour between work and rest, and a cue sounds at every change, so you never need to read a number. Fullscreen shows the timer alone, with no ads.
There are presets for a half Tabata of four rounds as a finisher, a double of sixteen, a 30/15 version with the same ratio, and an easier 20/20. Treat the last of those as a way in: once 20/20 feels controlled, the real thing is the next step, not more rounds.
- Fitness
- Timers
