Performing Tabata intervals

[jlawson58]

The thread on how to set a PM for Tabata intevals got me thinking about how to properly do them. Most articles I found said to "go very hard for 20 sec then rest for 10 and do it 8 times". One actually gave figures and said to do the number of watts that you weigh in pounds multiplied by 10% for the first one, and to add 10% for each one after that. I tried that and is was not hard at all so I looked up more articles and found that the original study was supposedly 170% of VO2Max. If we use the wattage one can produce for a 2k as a proxy for VO2Max then I get a value of 530w that I am supposed to be doing these at. I can barely get 2 at 500+. Should I aim for a quite hard, but realistic, 400+ watts, or just go "all out" and fade to something like 300w for the last few?

[hjs]

Nobody does '"real" tabata's. That would mean, 100% imput every rep, so every rep would become slower and you would completly kill yourself.

See http://www.fitvandaag.com/Tabata-english.html

[macroth]

Keep in mind that the original study was done on a cycle ergometer (stationary bike), not a rower. It's easier to pound out the watts on a bike.

6-8 reps 20"/10" as hard as you can is a nice hard session. Stop when you fade too much (drop from 400 to sub 300W, for example). You can call it "Tabata's" if you like, for simplicty's sake. Everybody else does.

[aharmer]

My understanding of tabata is very simple. Go as hard as you can each rep. Obviously you will slow down pretty dramatically by the end. Pacing the 8 reps may be a great workout, it's just not accomplishing what the tabata protocol intended.

I've never done tabata on the erg but will in the next couple days and post total meters here. Hopefully others will do the same, would be fun to see what people do. I've done tabata dead lifts, which are hard but manageable. Tabata sprints are one of the most horrible feelings I've had during a workout.