Winter training has its own special challenges. There is the "you-must-be-joking-it’s-still-dark" challenge, followed closely by the"‘I-might-leave-it-till-after-work" challenge. And if you’re heading to the gym for your morning sesh, you may well fall victim to that odd conspiracy of the heater in the car just getting toasty as you pull into the car park. This is the "only-a-buff-male-model-can-get-me-out-of-this-car" challenge.
So frankly the last thing you want to be doing is creeping around the gym doing some half-hearted warmup while your still-warm bed is quietly beckoning. “Come on...it’s not too late.”
This is when I lean on my old friend Tabata. No, not a Japanese energy drink, but rather a training system that gets you in and out of the gym in record time with a killer workout under your belt ready to face the day.
Tabata is another form of high-intensity interval training (HIIT) that incorporates high-intensity exercise for 20 seconds, followed by 10 seconds rest. Each of these 30-second blocks are performed eight times, giving four minutes of exhaustion in total.
The physiological benefit is well researched (Tabata found its origins in fitness conditioning for speed skaters) but I like it because in this world there’s only two things worth getting hot and sweaty for 20 minutes for, and this one of them. It also gets me out of the gym quick sharp.
So here’s a few Tabata tips.
You can do this training using just one exercise that you repeat eight times. But you can also mix it up a bit by alternating two exercises to reach a greater variety of body parts.
A favourite of mine is the agonist/antagonist combination, which is posh PT technical talk that basically means the exercises work opposite to each other. So one will push, while the other one pulls (for example, bench press versus rows). Or one will curl while the other extends (for example, thigh extensions versus leg curls). Get the picture?
My other fave is to couple upper body and lower body exercises (peripheral heart action training to the techniscenti out there.) This combo is particularly effective as it forces the blood to move radically from your legs to your upper body and then back again, making your heart work hard and thereby improving your cardiovascular fitness.
Michelle’s tip
A five-minute jog is the best warm up – save the stretches for after your workout.
