Creator of the Flex Diet Cert & Phys Flex Cert, CSCS, CISSN, Assoc Professor, kiteboarder, lifter of odd objects, metal music lover. >>>>Sign up to my daily FREE Fitness Insider newsletter below
170% VO₂max: The Tabata Nobody's Doing
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The Flex Diet Cert is opening up in about 9 days, but before I have more on that coming up soon, today I want to cover one of the most misunderstood studies / protocol...darn I say ever! The year was 1996. Dr. Izumi Tabata and a collection of research nerds who probably hadn't seen sunlight in weeks published a paper that would spend the next three decades being mangled beyond recognition by every gym chain, fitness app, and Instagram trainer on earth. Tabata, I., Nishimura, K., Kouzaki, M., Hirai, Y., Ogita, F., Miyachi, M., & Yamamoto, K. (1996). Effects of moderate-intensity endurance and high-intensity intermittent training on anaerobic capacity and VO₂max. Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, 28(10), 1327–1330. You have heard of it and may have done it. …but the GooRoos out there promoting everything as Tabata This and Tabata That got it all wrong. The Real Protocol 20 seconds on. 10 seconds off. 7 to 8 rounds. Required intensity: 170% of VO₂max. Read that last number again. One hundred and seventy percent of VO₂max. Not "hard" or even 80%. Not even "I am definitely sweating and this counts." One. Hundred. And. Seventy. Percent. The complete list of equipment capable of actually getting a trained human being to 170% VO₂max: — Rower — Assault bike — Versa climber — Cycle ergometer, if you happen to be an actual competitive cyclist That is the entire inventory. The GooRoos out there are not hitting 170% VO₂max with dumbbell thrusters and surely not hitting it on the elliptical even if they sweat a bit into their neon headband. And they are sure a heck are not hitting it doing burpees next to a ring light while someone in compression shorts counts to eight and calls it high-intensity interval training. Something is happening in those classes, although I am genuinely unsure of what as it defies common logic and even science itself; but it is not Tabata. Critical Study DetailZ The protocol was originally developed by Kouichi Irisawa, head coach of the Japanese National Speed Skating Team. The subjects were members of that team. Not general population or recreational athletes who train three times a week and eat gas station sushi – which is actually amazing in Japan. Elite speed skaters. Even they found it brutal. Let that land for exactly one second before we continue. Two groups. Six weeks. Group A cycled at 70% VO₂max for 60 minutes, five days a week. Solid. Respectable. Classic steady-state aerobic work with nothing to apologize for. Group B ran the Tabata protocol at 170% VO₂max — 20 seconds on, 10 off, 7 to 8 rounds — four days a week plus one moderate session. Tabata Results VO₂max — Group A improved. Group B improved by 7 ml·kg⁻¹·min⁻¹. Anaerobic capacity — Group A: zero change. Group B: up 28%. And it was already up 23% at the four-week mark. The adaptation was happening fast. Only the Tabata group moved both systems. That is the actual finding fitness Instagram never posts about because it requires explaining what an aerobic base is. Even the elite speed skaters couldn't all complete every round at 170% VO₂max. Because 10 seconds of rest does not get you back to baseline unless the oxidative system underneath is already running efficiently. Which is why Level 1 exists. Which is why you built the base first. Aerobic Base Is Not Optional Oxygen uptake during the final rounds approaches VO₂max. Getting there requires a well-developed aerobic engine underneath the whole operation. No base, no real Tabata, no real adaptation — just a protocol name attached to suffering that doesn't produce the result the 1996 paper described. The improved recovery from Level 1. The lower resting heart rate. The HRV that no longer reads like a seismograph during an active geological event. My preferred on-ramp: open the rest period first — enough rest to actually repeat the power output at quality — accumulate volume, then progressively compress the rest period over time. Density goes up. Adaptation follows. Now you know the real details of the Tabata study. Check out the Meathead Cardio as a way to amp up your aerobic metabolism today for more energy and faster ability to recover >> Flexible Meathead Cardio << Much love and glycolytic capacity, Dr. Mike Mike T Nelson CISSN, CSCS, MSME, PhD Mike T Nelson is a Ph.D. and not a physician or registered dietitian. The contents of this email should not be taken as medical advice. It is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any health problem - nor is it intended to replace the advice of a physician. Always consult your physician or qualified health professional on any matters regarding your health. |
Dr Mike T Nelson
Creator of the Flex Diet Cert & Phys Flex Cert, CSCS, CISSN, Assoc Professor, kiteboarder, lifter of odd objects, metal music lover. >>>>Sign up to my daily FREE Fitness Insider newsletter below
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