What is a Tabata workout?
Eight rounds of 20 seconds of very hard effort and 10 seconds of rest: four minutes in all. Pick one exercise, or alternate two. The timer gives you 10 seconds to get ready, then counts every round with 3-2-1 beeps and a long beep at each change.
| Part | Length |
|---|---|
| Get ready | 10 s (you can change it) |
| Work | 20 s × 8 |
| Rest | 10 s × 8 |
| Total | 4:00, plus get ready |
Ways to use it
- One all-out exercise, such as squats, burpees or bike sprints
- Two exercises in turn: odd rounds one, even rounds the other
- A short finisher at the end of a longer session
- Several Tabatas in a row, with Sets and a rest minute between
- Rowing or skipping intervals
- A four-minute burst on a busy day
Tips
- Use the 10-second Get ready to get into position; the first work round starts on the long beep.
- For four Tabatas with a minute between them, set Sets to 4: the total becomes 19:00.
- Prefer other lengths, such as 30/15? Change them on the Workout card or use the interval timer.
Reading the board
Each block is one round. The solid part is work and the striped part is rest, in their real proportions, and the block empties as the round runs; the round you are in has an outline. The board is dark during work, light green during rest and yellow while you get ready, and the word WORK, REST or GET READY is always written on it too, so you never have to tell colours apart. The line under the time says which round you are in and what comes next; in the last 3 seconds it counts down to the change.
Questions and answers
How long is a Tabata?
Four minutes: 8 rounds of 20 seconds of work and 10 seconds of rest, 8 × 30 seconds. The timer adds 10 seconds to get ready before the first round, which you can change or set to zero.
Where does the name come from?
From Izumi Tabata, first author of a 1996 study in Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise (vol. 28, pp. 1327–1330). One group trained on a cycle ergometer with 20-second all-out bouts and 10-second rests, 7 to 8 bouts a session. Today's "Tabata" is usually 8 rounds of 20/10 in any exercise, which is looser than the study.
Can I do more than one Tabata?
Yes. Set Sets to 2 or more on the Workout card. A “Rest between sets” row appears, 1 minute unless you change it. Four sets with 1 minute between them take 19:00.
Will I hear every change?
Yes. By default three short beeps count down the last 3 seconds of each part and a long beep marks the change; at the end the long sound plays three times. In Settings you can turn the 3-2-1 beeps off. Under Sound you can pick Beep, Bell, Whistle or Clap, or None and follow the board, which turns from dark (work) to light green (rest) with the word written on it.
Does it stay on time if I switch tabs?
The time comes from your device clock, not from counting ticks, and every beep of the workout is booked on the browser’s audio clock when you press Start, so the beeps do not wait for the page’s own timers, which browsers slow down in background tabs. Phone browsers can still pause a page when the screen locks, so keep the screen on: while a workout runs, TimerNook asks the browser to keep it awake where that is supported.