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Easy and Effective Tabata Routine For Beginners

effective tabata routineWhen it comes to getting active and losing weight, people generally get confused about where to start. So, let’s look at this effective Tabata routine which is simple and easy. TABATA (also called Tabata protocol) is a type of HIIT (high intensity interval training). It originated when a Japanese Scientist Dr. Izumi Tabata and his team from The National Institute of Fitness and Sports at Kagoshima, Japan were working on the fact that shorter high intensity workouts followed by a shorter period of rest can impact the body better rather than longer periods of continuous workout.

The structure of program is like: 

  • Exercise hard for 20 seconds
  • Rest for 10 seconds
  • Complete 8 rounds

A combination of any exercise can be used in Tabata. It targets a wider range of muscles and helps in burning fat during and after workouts. 

Three major health benefits of this Effective Tabata routine are:

  1. Helps in burning more fat in a shorter period of time
  2. Helps in increasing endurance
  3. As it is high intensity training, it needs to be focused & attentive, thus, increases efficiency.

Before You Begin, Keep in Mind:  

  • A beginner has to first check his/her flexibility, efficiency and endurance before picking up the sets of exercises
  • Make sure to complete a dynamic warm up before you begin this easy and effective Tabata routine.
  • You can choose a group of 3-4 exercises for a week and then add some other exercises one by one depending upon your stamina.
  • Don’t do exercises in a hurry. Rather do it in proper posture and manner.
  • Always keep a stopwatch with you.

Exercise To Include In Your Tabata Routine  

There are basic 10 exercises which you can include in your Tabata protocol when you are planning to start. These are:

  1. Burpees: Toughest among all exercises and increases endurance, strength & power. It is most effective but for a beginner can be placed at last.
  2. Lunges: Can be included in beginners protocol & difficulty level can be increased once you are comfortable in traditional lunges.
  3. Jump Rope: It is an effective and portable form of exercise and can be included in the beginners list.
  4. Squat Jack: It combines two bodyweight exercises which are squats and jumping jacks. Can be safely included in the list.
  5. Tabata Sprints: It starts with 20 seconds of sprints followed by 10 seconds of walking, jogging or rest.
  6. Push Ups: One of the most simple and familiar exercises which can be included in the list.
  7. Super man: This will strengthen the back and core muscles and can be included in the list.
  8. Plank jack: These are simple. The difficulty level can be increased at one’s comfort ability.
  9. Mountain Climbers: Very effective for legs and most suitable for beginners.
  10. Windshield Wipers: Easy to do and can be included in the list and variations can be done later.

From the list above, you can choose any 4-5 exercises and start practicing according to the Tabata protocol and always start with high energy and not in a hurry.

For more effective workouts and to learn more about fitness, check out Healthy Reads or tune in to our live, interactive classes on GOQii PRO, where our experts will guide and motivate you in real time. Book a class now from the GOQii App.

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A Quick 6 Minute Workout You Can Do Anywhere

fitness

With the gloomy weather and continuous downpour, it can get difficult to venture out to get some of that essential exercise. But don’t let the heavy rainfall keep you from working out. Get fit at home with this quick 6 minute workout! It is designed to help you reap all the benefits of a workout using only your body weight, a chair and a wall. You won’t need any special equipment and can perform this routine anywhere! We’d say it’s perfect for a rainy day!

The Quick 6 Minute Workout

  1. Jumping Jacks: This classic cardio move is a great way to warm up. It improves strength and endurance, increases metabolic rate, burns calories and is great for your heart and lungs as well!
  2. Wall Sit: Wall Sits are great in working out the two groups of muscles in your thighs. Repetitions of Wall Sits would naturally give you thighs that can withstand prolonged strenuous activities.
  3. Push-Ups: work many muscle groups at the same time, giving your body a full workout! You can work the quads, hamstrings, calves, chest, shoulders and arms all at the same time with a few push-ups. It stimulates metabolism and blood circulation, allowing you to burn more calories throughout the rest of your workout.
  4. Abdominal Crunch: Crunches work on the Rectus Abdominis Muscles. It is a core working exercise and burns less calories comparatively but, they move in a controlled manner, flexing and releasing the core muscles, thus helping you build abs.
  5. Step Up Onto Chair: This exercise is great for targeting your quad and Gluteus Maximus Muscles, giving you strong, powerful legs.
  6. Squats: are great for a total lower body workout. They effectively work most of the major muscle groups of the butt, hips and thighs. Squats are also a versatile exercise. Squats engage the core muscles of the body. The result is a tighter, flatter abdomen and a stronger lower back.
  7. Triceps Dips On Chair: It is a triceps-strengthening and a most effective body-weight exercise. Dips target your triceps – the muscles on the back of your upper arm.
  8. Planks: help in strengthening the midsection, upper-body and lower-body muscles along the front of your body. Planks also strengthen the inner core muscles that support your joints. It helps in reducing belly fat and back pain. At a time, it works on all your core muscles.
  9. High Knees Running: This is a nice warm-up. High Knees Running on Spot is good practice for runners and athletes to improve running form and develop lower body muscles. It also enhances your strength, speed, balance and flexibility. What’s more? It provides you more energy, burns calories, builds muscles and enhances blood circulation.
  10. Lunges: are easy-to-learn, safe and an incredibly effective exercise. Lunges target the quadriceps, but involve additional muscles, including the glutes, hamstrings, calves and core muscles, making them an important exercise for toning the lower body.
  11. Push-Up & Rotation: This exercise is great for building shoulder stabilization and strengthening your entire core. Don’t let your hips drop when you go into side rotation. Try to keep everything in a straight diagonal line throughout.
  12. Side Plank: works your entire core but particularly targets an often weak muscle called the Quadratus Lumborum. It helps to reduce risk for lower back pains, improves your balance and structure.

Perform the above exercises in rapid succession with 20 seconds for each exercise followed by 10 seconds of rest in between. Don’t forget to stretch before you begin!

These 6 minutes that you will give to your body and your health are equal to 0.5% of your day! So go out there and get fit the HIIT way! Don’t forget to leave your thoughts in the comments below.

Find more exciting, quick workouts and fitness related articles here. You can also tune in to our live, interactive classes on GOQii PRO, where our certified fitness experts will guide you on the correct form and posture in real time, while making sure that you are well motivated! Book a class now from the GOQii App.

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Planks: The Quick and Easy Way to Stay Fit!

Benefits of Planks

With everyone’s busy schedule, even squeezing in a 15 minute workout seems like a stretch. Quite honestly, we all want to be fit, lose weight, gain muscle, reduce belly fat or increase stamina and so on, but very rarely find the time to do it. In such a scenario, it is necessary to think about which workouts consume less time but are more effective. There are many exercises that you can perform at any time, anywhere and with no equipment. One such workout is Planks.

Planks strengthen your mid-section, upper-body and lower-body muscles along with the front of your body. It also strengthens the inner core muscles that support your joints. At a time, it works on all your core muscles. It can also help you improve posture, balance and overall fitness.

How To Hold A Plank

  • Lie face down with forearms on the floor and hands clasped
  • Extend your legs behind the body and rise up on the toes
  • Keeping your back straight, tighten the core and hold the position for 30-60 seconds (or as long as you can)

Plank Variations and How to Perform Them

There are different variations for the plank which are a little difficult to perform. Let’s explore them!

  1. Side Plank: Roll to the side and come up on one foot and elbow. Make sure your hips are lifted and the core is engaged. Hang tight for 30-60 seconds (or as long as you can)
  2. Reverse Plank: Start by sitting on the floor with your legs straight out in front of you. Place your palms on the floor, below your shoulders, squeeze your buttocks and thighs, and then push your body up into a reverse plank position. Alternatively, you can begin by placing your elbows rather than your hands on the floor, for a less dramatic lift. Keep your body in a straight diagonal line from your shoulders to heels. Ensure that your hips are in line
  3. Dynamic Prone Plank: Starting with a standard plank position, raise the hips as high as they can go and then lower them back down. Continue this movement for as long as possible. Make sure the Back stays straight and the hips don’t droop.
  4. Plank to Push-Up: Starting in a plank position, place down one hand at a time to lift up into a push-up position, with the back straight and the core engaged. Then, move one arm at a time back into the plank position (forearms on the ground). Repeat alternating the arm that makes the first move
  5. Jumping Jack Planks: There are planks, and then there are planks with pop! Start in a traditional plank (shoulders over the wrists and the body in one straight line) but keep your feet together. Then, simply do jumping jacks with the legs, moving them out to the sides, then back together. Aim for 12-15 hops (out and in is one)

Fun Fact: Just by holding a plank for 30 secs a day, you can make your core stronger. It also helps you lose fat!

One word of caution is being careful when performing planks. Overdoing it could lead to injury. This is important if you have back pain or an injury. If you’re trying it for the first time, get into it slowly and gradually till you can hold the plank for longer duration. The duration can be increased with  practice.

Points to Remember

  • Keep breathing while doing the Plank. In essence, don’t hold your breath
  • Ensure that your hips, head or shoulders do not drop
  • Don’t place your hands very close, it can create internal rotation and instability in your shoulder joint
  • Try to hold the Plank in a proper position for a short duration rather than holding it in a wrong position for a longer time

What do you think? Try out planks and its variations and let us know your thoughts in the comments below!

You can find more articles on fitness here. You can also join our certified experts for a live, interactive session on GOQii PRO. Book a class now from the GOQii App.

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Put Your Fat On Flame With Interval Training

Interval TrainingMost of us have this desirable goal of losing fat but, when asked to act on it, we have a fixed set of excuses ready – No time! Too tough for me! Too boring to repeat the same pattern, etc. It’s time to ditch these excuses and rev up workouts which consume less time, can be done easily and are not monotonous. We suggest going for Interval Training!

What Is Interval Training?

Interval training is a workout in which we alternate the bursts of high-intensity exercises with intervals of lighter activity. All that we do here is, we repeatedly challenge our body and then give it shorter breaks to recover, for a massive cardio blast. It helps burn more calories in a short period of time, as compared to a steady-state exercise.

How Does It Work?

When we vary the intensity while working out, it leads to muscle confusion. Our body gets confused and wonders what’s happening! As a regulatory mechanism, our heart rate shoots up and it starts pumping more blood. More the blood, higher the Oxygen and to your surprise, fat combustion occurs more efficiently in the presence of Oxygen.

Ever wondered why a candle stops burning when we put a glass over it and block the Oxygen? That’s exactly the principle. Any burning process requires O2 which is a key to burning fat. And since interval training involves a lot of Oxygen, it’s been gaining fame in the fat loss/inch loss sector.

There are no hard and fast rules in interval training. We can have variations as we want, to make it most enjoyable and keep boredom at bay. We can:

  • Interval walk: Walking fast for 2 minutes, then walking slowly for a minute, again fast, then slow and go on this way as long as we can
  • Interval runs Alternating 2 minutes run with a 1-minute walk
  • Interval swim: Alternating fast-paced swimming moves with slow-paced moves

We can also try this with cycling, dancing, strengthening exercises (Tabata – being the most popular form of High Intensity Interval Training) and the list can go on.

Interval training 2It’s quite possible to take interval training to many levels. The length and speed of each high-intensity interval solely depend upon our strength and capacity. To get better with it, we need to make sure we push our body way past our comfort zone each time we do it. Remember, not to rush into strenuous exercise before our body is ready, to avoid injury. Ensure a good warm-up session before starting with it, and end it with stretches.

If you are a beginner to exercising, We’d say, don’t start with interval training directly. Give your body some time to build the stamina with steady cardio workouts for a few weeks to a month. You can then add interval training to your routine. In fact, you can also add these interval training plans to your gym routine once a week to enhance your speed and cardiovascular endurance.

So what are you waiting for? Jump into your workout shoes and jazz up your workout routine by adding interval training! If you have a chronic health condition (Hypertension or Cardiovascular illness), it’s better to keep away from interval training to avoid any aggravation. You can check with your trainer or coach to take the best course. For further guidance, you can subscribe for GOQii’s personalized health coaching and get the best exercises and habits to meet your weight loss goals.

Additionally, you can also join our online classes on GOQii PRO, where our certified fitness experts will guide you on the correct form and posture in real time, while making sure that you are well motivated! You can book a class now from the GOQii App.

For more on fitness and weight loss, check out Healthy Reads.

Get Active and #BeTheForce 

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