0

I've recently heard about Tabata workout which takes just 4 minutes to perform. Is it possible to achieve the result shown in this video or it's very specific and doesn't suit everyone?

I'm 17yo, skinny and don't gain weight if I eat much.

Максим Сорокин
  • 1
  • 3

1 Answers1

0

For weight loss?

No. There's a myth that people can magically lose weight by doing quick bursts of high intensity exercise. The myth originated from an old study showcasing that the body burns more calories after quick bursts.

So obviously youtubers and the media started miss-interpreting that study either doing that on purpose or by simply being ignorant in how the human body works.

If you do a quick high intensity bursting exercise like a sprint or heavy squats you will burn a certain amount of calories during the exercise and then around 20% to 30% through the rest of the day.

So if you do a quick 1 minutes sprint you might burn around 30 kilocalories at best and then maybe 9 more kilocalories through the day.

Mind that a sprint is incredibly hard to maintain for 1 minute, humans are runners not sprinters.

As opposed to a slower process where you might walk 20 minutes and burn around 60-80 kilocalories depending on your weight and 0 calories throughout the rest of the day.

For high intensity training to burn more calories you got to do it for a lot of time, which is exactly impossible for human beings without drugs, we didn't evolve to sprint but to run or walk.

So quick high intensity workouts can help you lose weight if you are already on a diet or you already do long cardio sessions, it helps by supplementing with a little more caloric deficit.

for health?

Alone by itself it's useless, but when used as a supplement to your already existing cardiovascular training it can help.

for strength?

It might work to a small extent, but way too small to see body adaptation and be more muscular.

TL:DR Quick bursts of high intensity exercise can be good for neurological strength adaptations but are subpar in aiding weight loss or muscular growth.