Tabata training is a hugely popular form of high-intensity interval training (HIIT) that is utilized in multiple fitness and sport-specific training methodologies. If you haven’t come across it yet in CrossFit, I assure you that you will. Soon.
“So what exactly is Tabata and why is it called that?” I hear you ask. Well, the story starts with the Japanese Olympic Speed Skating Team. In 1996 team trainer and scientist Izumi Tabata conducted a study analyzing the effectiveness of a specific HIIT program that the head coach had developed for his athletes. The team was split into different groups. The first group trained on ergonomic cycles at moderate intensity for one hour, five days per week, for a total of six weeks. The second group completed four-minute, high-intensity workouts on ergonomic cycles four days per week for a total of six weeks. The program that group two followed is what has come to be known as Tabata training: