Bata bing, bata boom…Fitmotivation subscribers now have two recently released Tabata videos – one deep and one shallow – just in time to make a BIG SPLASH this summer. Bata Boom, a deep water Tabata workout featuring AEA’s Director of Education, Julie See, just posted (Premium Plan). Bata Bing, a shallow water format posted in March 2017.
High intensity interval training (HIIT) formats, including the Tabata protocol, do not have to be boring in order to achieve spectacular results. Julie’s Tabata workouts feature simple, yet challenging exercises with just enough creativity to keep participants engaged in the workout. This format is not about choreography, it is about intensity and technique. This does not mean you limit your creativity, but instead limit the number of moves you try to include. Form and alignment is essential for effective outcomes. Video viewers will appreciate and learn from Julie’s impeccable deck demonstration and cueing.
Tabata training features a 4-minute round of 8 exercise sets performed at high intensity for 20 seconds each, with 10 seconds of recovery after each set. Tabata was originally developed for Olympic athletes and the research was based on ONE 4-minute Tabata round a week. However, the goal was to perform this one round anaerobically at 85-95% of maximal heart rate. That would be serious, ass-kicking, plyometric, speed of light, sweating bullets, all-out-effort. Doing more than one round would be almost impossible.
Putting Tabata training into group fitness where up to 8 rounds of 4-minutes each is performed would require considerable intensity moderation, particularly for older populations. To push the workload beyond aerobic into the anaerobic zone, a heart rate of 75% - 85% during the work cycles would be a more feasible goal. Rather than focusing on speed and power, consider big exercises that target large muscle groups. Instructors who lead classes with older adults should not be worried that Tabata is too intense for their classes. Try integrating just one or two rounds with your regular programming. Choose exercises that participants are comfortable with but give them options for increasing intensity. If it makes you feel better, I don’t think many of my students ever cross the anaerobic threshold. They work as hard as they can. But they absolutely love Tabata training when we do it.
BATA BOOM AT A GLANCE
6 Rounds – 4 minutes each (8 exercises – 20 seconds work & 10 seconds recovery)
4 exercises are taught in each round – performed twice each
Take away 24 high intensity deep water exercises to create your own Tabata rounds or to simply use in your deep water classes
Round 1: This round features kicking movements.
Round 2: High intensity jack movements are taught in this round
Round 3: This round features intense variations of cross country skis
Round 4: Explosive tuck variations are highlighted in this round
Round 5: This round is all about the core. Planking movements are performed at various angles, forcing the core to stabilize in zero gravity.
Round 6: The exercises in this round target core stability and agility with creative flutter/sculling exercises.
Breaks: In between each round a break of 30 seconds or longer is offered. In her classes, Julie extends the break to one or two minutes so that she can show a preview of each of the four exercises that is to be performed in that round
Music: As a powerful motivator for intensity and enjoyment, music can also help monitor training segments with the help of pre-formatted music CDs.
Recommended Music: 45-minute pre-formatted music CDS by YES! Fitness Music - Tabata GoldVolume 1 & Volume 2.
The Tabata Gold CDs include:
· Warm-up – one song, 4-5 minutes
· 8 Tabatas (4-minute training + 30-second rest between each) – 36 minutes
· Cool-down – one song, 4-5 minutes
Using these pre-formatted music CDs is the EASIEST teaching you will ever do. Simply drop the moves into the format for a fun and intense fitness experience.
As you can see by the rounds that Julie designed, Tabata doesn’t have to - and shouldn’t be just about speed and power. Using pre-formatted music, you can structure Tabata rounds to achieve whatever goal you want as an outcome. Strength? Core? Balance? Not only do the students enjoy the formatted cueing of the music – you will enjoy the ease of teaching a class where you are simply a coach demonstrating exercises.
Fitmotivation would like to extend BIG THANKS to Julie See for her innovative approach to aquatic fitness and her decades of inspiration. Bata Boom and Bata Bing (Shallow) are both now streaming on Fitmotivation.com. The DVDs for both can also be purchased online in AEA’s AKWA Shop.
Other Fitmotivation videos featuring Tabata: