• The 4 Minute-Workout: From Running Gag to Ego Buster

    by Alexander Becker

    The X-minute workout, a running gag among fitness professionals, can still be employed effectively, especially as an addition to a well balanced schedule involving resistance training, intervals, and aerobic work.

    The Tabata Method is a variation of High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) and Dan John has build a short, yet effective Fat Loss in Four Minutes out of it --

    Tabata is the name of a Japanese researcher who discovered an interesting way to increase both anaerobic and aerobic pathways at the same time. It's one of those strange training programs that seems to fit across disciplines: it's excellent for bicyclists, speed skaters, Olympic lifters, or the person looking to lose fat quickly.

    This training method is so simple, yet so incredibly difficult, that athletes tend to try it once, acknowledge its greatness, and then vow to never speak its name again. What is it? It's simple: take one exercise and perform it in the following manner:

    1. For twenty seconds, do as many repetitions as possible.
    2. Rest for ten seconds
    3. Repeat seven more times!

    Ok. So much for the method. I really like sprint intervals but in Northern Europe, rain is sometimes used as an excuse not to go out and run. Enter the remedy; Tabata thrusters --

    The thruster is one of the greatest lifts no one has ever heard of in the gym. Take two dumbbells and hold them at shoulder height. Squat down, keeping the dumbbells on the shoulders. As you rise up, press the bells to the overhead lockout position. You can either press as you rise or use the momentum to help "kick" the bells overhead. I find that I do a little bit of both in the four minutes.

    Thrusters do things to your heart rate and breathing that I honestly can't describe. Go light! A 35 pound dumbbell in each hand is a very difficult thruster workout! Check your ego at the door for the first two minutes.

    It did rain and I did try it... The soreness lasted for three days.

    For those of you who'd ask, here is the dialogue that founded all the fun, from Something About Mary in 1998 --

    Hitchhiker
    You heard of this thing, the 8-Minute Abs?
    Ted
    Yeah, sure, 8-Minute Abs. Yeah, the excercise video.
    Hitchhiker
    Yeah, this is going to blow that right out of the water. Listen to this: 7... Minute... Abs.
    Ted
    Right. Yes. OK, all right. I see where you're going.
    Hitchhiker
    Think about it. You walk into a video store, you see 8-Minute Abs sittin' there, there's 7-Minute Abs right beside it. Which one are you gonna pick, man?
    Ted
    I would go for the 7.
    Hitchhiker
    Bingo, man, bingo. 7-Minute Abs. And we guarantee just as good a workout as the 8-minute folk.
    Ted
    You guarantee it? That's - how do you do that?
    Hitchhiker
    If you're not happy with the first 7 minutes, we're gonna send you the extra minute free. You see? That's it. That's our motto. That's where we're comin' from. That's from "A" to "B".
    Ted
    That's right. That's - that's good. That's good. Unless, of course, somebody comes up with 6-Minute Abs. Then you're in trouble, huh?
    [Hitchhiker convulses]
    Hitchhiker
    No! No, no, not 6! I said 7. Nobody's comin' up with 6. Who works out in 6 minutes? You won't even get your heart goin, not even a mouse on a wheel.
    Ted
    That - good point.
    Hitchhiker
    7's the key number here. Think about it. 7-Elevens. 7 doors. 7, man, that's the number. 7 chipmunks twirlin' on a branch, eatin' lots of sunflowers on my uncle's ranch. You know that old children's tale from the sea. It's like you're dreamin' about Gorgonzola cheese when it's clearly Brie time, baby. Step into my office.
    Ted
    Why?
    Hitchhiker
    'Cause you're f--kin' fired!

    The above described four minutes will indeed train your aerobic and your anaerobic pathways, at the same time, the mind will be working just as hard to stay with you and harden together with your body. Try it. It's only four short minutes. Plus three days, that is.

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