Issue 066

September 2010

Barry Gibson is a kettlebell and fitness instructor as well as a 3rd dan black belt in judo. A strength and conditioning trainer to some of the UK’s top MMA fighters (including TUF 9 winner Ross Pearson), he is available for seminars and workshops upon request. For details or to contact him with any questions or queries, email [email protected]. Check out his DVD ‘Train Hard, Fight Easy and Win’, available from grapplefit.com 

Tabata is a four-minute exercise format where short bursts of activity are followed by periods of rest. For example: the participant undergoes twenty seconds of squatting followed by ten seconds of rest, repeated eight times. 

The Tabata method of training was 'invented' by a Japanese sports scientist in the 90s and it's one of the best ways of quickly increasing your cardio.

This kind of intense training is popular with MMA athletes because of its demanding nature. However, combat sports don’t naturally follow the 20 seconds work / 10 seconds rest ratio. 

Fights do consist of intermittent bouts of explosive activity, but the duration of these power exchanges are varied and a fighter never knows how much rest they're going

to get.

So, my recent experimentation with this format has been something of a 'mix it up' type of affair. At Grapplefit we've been varying the length of the exercise and rest bursts - 24 seconds of excercise followed to six seconds of rest, for example.

Below are two circuits that I’d like you to try – feel free to give us your honest feedback (to the Grapplefit email address above), as your opinion counts. 

Changing the structure

Be wary not to be caught in the habit of sticking rigidly to the 20:10 work-rest ratio and, instead, vary them as much as possible. For example, perform 24 sec work / 6 sec rest, 21 sec work / 9 sec rest, 30 sec work / 3 sec rest, 15 sec work / 6 sec rest – anything that tickles your fighting fancy. 

Combat involves bursts of heavy, intense work punctuated with bouts of brief, active rest. This is what you need to train for in terms of timescales. Feel free to mess around with the timings as much as possible, and be creative! 

Squats 24 / 6 

Press-ups 24 / 6 

Sprawls 19 / 5 

Squat thrusts 14 / 8 

Now obviously if you stick to the original format, you’re going to have a nice, even four-minute block to work to. Here, you’ll have to improvise. Set a timer for five minutes – go through each exercise in turn, or perform five rounds of each in turn before moving on to the next. Either option is harsh. 

What does this give you? 

With this protocol your body is not allowed to get accustomed to the 20:10 format, so you and your coach can get the most out of it. With regular Tabata formats, you tend to know instinctively when the work period is over. You can’t do that in this format – and that’s why it mirrors MMA.  

You could use certain equipment for this too. A good start would be a sandbag or weight plate for example. Barbells work, but you may need to rack the bar after certain drills and your designated rest may not be sufficient. For a circuit involving equipment, try the following: 

Plate thrusters 12 / 8 

Burpees 28 / 12

Sandbag Zercher lunges 18 / 7

Jumping pull-ups 21 / 9 

PRO TIP

Timing this workout by yourself is going to be almost impossible! Get a partner or coach to man the stopwatch so you simply set a round timer off and make up your own work-rest periods – the temptation as you get tired for the work to get shorter and the rest to get longer will scupper your workouts!