Bridal Boot Camp – Day 45

Day 45 – August 19

Hakuna Tabata – What a wonderful phrase
Hakuna Tabata – Ain’t no passing craze
It means some burpees with all the fat that it slays
It’s our problem-free philosophy

You are welcome for that being stuck in your head for the rest of the day! But really I recently did a Tabata workout with Brittany, one of the personal trainers here at the Arena District Athletic Club, and this workout means business. Tabata is a fast paced interval training workout a lot like H.I.I.T (High Intensity Interval Training).

It is a cardio program that combines strength training to help you sweat more, burn more and get an all-over body workout all while keeping your heart rate up. It may sound easy but it’s not, in fact most Tabata workouts are only about 20 minutes long.

This method is designed so that each Tabata routine consists of a 20-second, all-out work interval followed by a 10-second rest period, which together make one full set. Brittany had me switch back and forth between two exercises each minute so the workout was structured like this: Exercise A for 20 seconds, 10 second rest, Exercise B for 20 seconds, 10 second rest. I rotated like this for 4 minutes and then we would switch out exercises A and B. We did 4 sets of 4 minutes for a total of 16 minutes that totally kicked my butt.

I was curious as to how a 16 minute workout could really help me burn fat, so I went and found out via “The Google.” Here is your flashback back to high school bio class. To provide our muscles with the energy they need during a workout, our bodies have the aerobic and anaerobic energy systems. Both systems are always working together, but our aerobic system always predominates during rest and low-intensity cardio…it’s during higher-intensity workouts (like Tabata) which have us using up oxygen at higher rates that we shift towards the anaerobic system.

Tabata works because it forces your body to be more efficient with it’s use of both energy systems, and it uses so much energy from your anaerobic system that your body has to catch up for a long time after. This means that, as long as you don’t flood your system with energy in the form of sugar right after a Tabata workout, that your metabolism will burn more calories for the rest of the day even after your workout.

Tabata also provides a workout that burns fat across the entire body, providing an overall slim down in much less time, and giving you even better results than just running on a treadmill for an hour. You are also getting your strength training covered. So you really get twice the workout in half the time.

Another added bonus for Tabata workouts is that you can do them practically anywhere because a lot of the moves can be done entirely with body weights. You can also download an app on your phone to time out 20 seconds with 10 second rests with alarms, so you don’t have to have someone else time you.
It really did help having Brittany there with me though. She showed me all the moves beforehand, but then she helped direct me when my brain was too tired to remember what move was next.

These were the 8 exercises Brittany had me do at our Tabata workout:

Session 1 – Switch between moves until you’ve done each one 4 times. (4 minutes total)
Box Jumps – jump up onto a box (or bench) and step off. Do it as quickly as you can and try to do the same number in your last set as you were able to do in your first set.

Lunge Skips – You go into a backward lunge, but then shoot off into a small skip with a tiny hop. These will burn.

Session 2 – Switch between moves until you’ve done each one 4 times. (4 minutes total)
Push Ups – Do as many as you can. I would do ten on my knees and then ten real ones and try to keep switching back and forth.
Weighted Jumping Jacks – Do a jumping jack but use a bar (mine was 9lbs.) that you push up.

Session 3 – Switch between moves until you’ve done each one 4 times. (4 minutes total)
Plank Suicides – Start in plank position on your forearms, lift one hand into push up position, then the other hand, then have one hand go back down onto your forearm and follow with the other hand. I used to call these plank push ups.
Sprinter Sit Ups – Lay on your back and bring one leg up, lift your head, neck and shoulders and reach with your opposite hand to touch your sole. Then switch. That leg goes down the other comes up with a knee to your chest and you lift up to touch the sole with your opposite hand.

Session 4 – Switch between moves until you’ve done each one 4 times. (4 minutes total)

Crab Walk – Use a resistance band around your ankles and walk sideways with your toes pointed in front of you, switch directions. These will burn your glutes!
Reverse Crunches – Lay on your back and lift your feet and butt up to the ceiling.

Rest, stretch and wipe off all the sweat you just burned off. This is the perfect workout if you are short on time!

The Arena District Athletic Club is more than just a gym, it’s a premier fitness facility located in the heart of the Arena District in downtown Columbus. We provide convenience and quality, featuring top-of-the-line equipment, top-notch personal trainers, spa-like locker rooms and a wide variety of free group fitness classes daily including Cardio, Spinning, Barre Fusion, Yoga, Boot Camp and more. We offer free 2-hour parking and convenient contract-free memberships, to fit your healthy lifestyle needs. Don’t just join, belong.