Tabata Training for Sedentary Individuals Peter Milevski Rowan University Department of Health and Exercise Science Why Tabata is Beneficial Introduction and Purpose . Dr. Izumi Tabata has developed a workout program in the form of high intensity interval training to improve people’s aerobic and anaerobic fitness levels. Now, this program can be done with any types of exercises as long as it fits the 20 second full tilt workout with a 10 second rest for 8 sets. For example, if a person wanted to improve their strength in their explosive muscles in their legs while also burning fat, they might choose to do squat jumps. The way they would perform the workout would be to do as many squat jumps as they can for 20 seconds and then rest for 10 seconds which would be one set. Tabata workouts take 8 sets to complete which measures up to 4 minutes of exercising. The biggest barrier that discourages people to not exercise at least 30 minutes a day is time. The reason to choose is Tabata is that one workout alone only takes 4 minutes. Even if a person cannot exercise for 30 minutes straight, they can find small portions of their day where they can do Tabata and then continue through with their daily tasks. Time is not the only reason why Tabata is beneficial for sedentary people. It has been proven that Tabata can improve other aspects of health even better than just the moderate-intensity training that a person begins when they first decide to start exercising. It is shown that Tabata training will spike the metabolism during and after the workout is done because of exercise post oxygen consumption (EPOC). Also, EPOC will ensure that the person will continue to burn calories even when they are done doing the workouts because of the body’s continuous work to make sure that their oxygen levels are at homeostasis. Although muscle growth may not be a goal for some people, Tabata also increases HGH production while also increasing insulin sensitivity. Dr. Tabata took a group of exercisers and put them through a 6 week program of Tabata and another group did the same 6 weeks but did moderately intense exercise. The Tabata group did a total of 120 minutes of exercise while the other group completed 1,800 minutes of exercise. Dr. Tabata found that the Tabata group increased their anaerobic fitness by 28% while the other group only increased by 10%. This just goes to show that Tabata training can have better effects on the participant and cut the time by almost 90%. Tabata is a type of high intensity interval training that incorporates a style of doing 20 second bouts with 10 second rests. The combination of the 20 and 10 seconds is considered one round and in Tabata, there is 8 rounds which is all one set. This type of exercise was created by Dr. Izumi Tabata in hopes that he would remove the time barrier people place on themselves as to why they do not work out. Now, the “Tabata Training for Sedentary Individuals” purpose is to do just that. For just one Tabata workout, it will only take four minutes which will ultimately eliminate the number one reason as to why sedentary individuals choose not to exercise. Program Description Pre Survey- Met with individuals in Rowan Student Recreation Center March 7, 2016, at approximately 11:35 AM. 1st week- Engage in Tabata workout for twenty minutes or five sets for 1-2 days a week. 2nd week- Engage in Tabata workout for thirty minutes or seven sets for 2-3 days a week. 3rd week-Engage in Tabata workout for thirty minutes or seven sets for 3-4 days a week. 4th week- Engage in Tabata workout for thirty minutes or seven sets for 5 days in the week. Post Program Survey- Met with individuals in Rowan Student Recreation Center April 11,2016 at 5:30 PM. Results and Discussion The participants showed through their surveys that they were, by the definition of ACSM, sedentary. Out of the 11 participants, only 2 stated that they engaged in either cardiovascular or resistance training for twenty minutes at a rate of 1-2 times a week. The rest of the 9 participants stated that do not engage in any type of exercise weekly. The participants were asked how motivated they were to exercise on a scale of 1-10 with one being the lowest and ten being the highest. The motivation scale was splint three classes which were low (1-3), moderate (4-6) and high (7-10). Out of the 11 participants, 2 said they were highly motivated, 3 said they were moderately motivated and the last 6 said that they had low motivation to exercise. After the four week program, there was tremendous improvement. Four of the participants were able to complete 5 days of Tabata for thirty minutes. Four of the participants stated that they were able to do 3-4 days a week for thirty minutes and the remaining three stated that they were able to do Tabata for 2-3 days a week for thirty minutes. The outstanding part of the program was that 7 of the participants were ranked in the higher motivation category and 4 in the moderate category. There were no participants that felt that they had low motivation to exercise at the end of the four week program. Program Goals To have 5-10 participants participating in Tabata workout for thirty minutes for 5 days at end of 4 week program Increase motivation to exercise regularly (3-5 days a week) Methods What: There were 1 participants who chose to engage in this 4 week program. They first would take an intro survey that consisted of 8 questions and a post survey that consisted of 9 questions. Why: This method would provide a proper presentation if the participants did engage in the exercises and if there were noticeable difference between the beginning and the end. When: March 7th, 2016 for pre survey and April 11, 2016. Group workouts took place at 218 East High Street, Glassboro NJ 08028. Where:Group Workouts took place at 218 East High Street, Glassboro NJ 08028. Total Participants: 11 Rowan University students and all were male. Students ranged from Juniors to Seniors and ages 20-22. Conclusion Reference The program was a success in completeing the goals presented. The motivation to exercise while increasing the frequeny . ACSM'S Health & Fitness Journal. 18(5):17-24, September/October 2014