Join me on The Flex Diet Podcast as I break down the iconic 1996 Tabata study that’s been hyped for its fat-burning benefits. Tabata training has become a fitness staple, but is it really all it’s cracked up to be? I’ll uncover the myths, dive into the science, and explain why true Tabata isn’t exactly beginner-friendly. Learn about its real effects on body composition and how you can modify it for better results. Plus, I’ll give you the lowdown on Flexible Meathead Cardio: Level 2 that closes for enrollment at midnight on Tuesday, August 12, 2025. Tune in for a no-BS look at one of the most talked-about training protocols in fitness.
Join me on The Flex Diet Podcast as I break down the iconic 1996 Tabata study that’s been hyped for its fat-burning benefits. Tabata training has become a fitness staple, but is it really all it’s cracked up to be?
I’ll uncover the myths, dive into the science, and explain why true Tabata isn’t exactly beginner-friendly. Learn about its real effects on body composition and how you can modify it for better results.
Plus, I’ll give you the lowdown on Flexible Meathead Cardio: Level 2 that closes for enrollment at midnight on Tuesday, August 12, 2025. Tune in for a no-BS look at one of the most talked-about training protocols in fitness.
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Dr Mike T Nelson: [00:00:00] Welcome back to the Flex Diet Podcast. I'm your host, Dr. Mike C. Nelson. On this podcast, we talk about all things to increase muscle performance, body composition, and do all of it in a flexible framework without destroying your health. Today on the podcast is just me talking about what was probably. One of the most popular interval based studies that has ever been done.
You might disagree with that, but I would say that the Tabata training is still something you hear about. And the original Tabata was published in medicine and Science and sport exercise in the 1996. The main researcher on it was. Shocker by the name Tabata. And I don't think most [00:01:00] people on the internet spouting random training advice ever actually read full studies.
This one's been open access for quite a while. So today I wanted to do a relatively short breakdown of the pros and cons of the Tabata study, and also remind you that this will be heavily featured in the flexible meathead cardio level two. This will be one of the protocols we talk about. We've got a ton of principles, other protocols and everything on the more anaerobic, high intensity interval segment.
That is what we're covering in the level two. Level one was more of the base and covered the aerobic side of the equation. Now, I know aerobic and anaerobic are kind of a little bit of a artificial linea delineation, but. It was just easiest to split the course into those two parts. So as you know, aerobic training is a body's ability to use oxygen.
Anaerobic is not using [00:02:00] oxygen. Now, of course, nothing is purely aerobic or purely anaerobic. But on the anaerobic side, we're looking at the shorter intensity, higher output work. And as a heads up, depending on when you're listening to this, if you're listening to this when this first comes out. The level two course.
We'll close for now. It'll probably be open again, but it will close this coming Tuesday, August 12th at midnight Pacific Standard Time. We'll put a link to the program down below so you can still hop in there. We are teaching this first one live, so we'll have the live portion Tuesday starting at 9:00 AM Central time.
And then Thursday starting at noon central time, and that will be the same the following week the 19th and then also on the 21st. So there'll be four live [00:03:00] portions if you're not able to make it live. Everything will be recorded. We'll have it in your nice online learning portal for you, so you will still get all of the material afterwards, so you can still sign up until this coming Tuesday night.
At midnight specific standard time, and then if you're already signed up, I will see you in the live portion, hopefully. So today talking about the Tabata study, as I mentioned, was published in 1996, so a couple myths about Tabata and then I'm gonna do a breakdown in the study and explain how this is useful to you and some recommendations that you can do to make it a little bit better.
Unfortunately, you go on the old internet, it looks like Tabata could be everything. Now, I've seen one arm tro curls on a Bosu ball stating that it's Tabata or Metcons that are Tabata or Squat Tabatas, and [00:04:00] there may be some benefits to these protocols. I don't know about the one arm boast to ball curls and that type of stuff, but are those really true Tabata training?
I would say definitely not, and probably not even close at all. It just seems like anything that's four minutes in time gets to be considered a Tabata. I also think the main reason that Tabata was super popular is that it was described as the ultimate fat burning workout. In only four minutes, we'll talk a little bit about that.
What are the pros and some of the cons of that. And the shocker is. The original study didn't see much body comp changes. Another myth is any intense workout is 20 seconds on, 10 seconds off is a tabata, and now 20 seconds on, 10 seconds off for intervals is incredibly brutal. Usually if you get to a [00:05:00] one-to-one work to rest ratio.
So for example, in the flexible meathead, cardio two, we have a protocol that's the classic 30 seconds on, 30 seconds off. Modifications to that also, that's brutal, and that's a one-to-one work to rest ratio. When you get below that, you are definitely doing what is called incomplete rest. There is no way if you're going really hard for 20 seconds, you're gonna recover much in 10 seconds.
And again, that was kind of the point of the original Tabata study. Again, the Tabata study has been promoted, as I mentioned, to burn a ton of fat during the session. That was not true. There is some fat burning effect after it, which we'll talk about. It seems like Tabata is being used for everybody, and I think that is a huge mistake.
Again, the intensity of the Tabata training in the original study, which was 1996, was using a [00:06:00] cyclometer and it was 170% of VO two Mac. So not just working at VO two max, right, which is the maximum amount, the volume of oxygen you can run through your system. So that's kind of your cap on the aerobic side of the equation, you were at 170% of that.
So for simple math, if you wanted to take your 2K on a concept two rower, which is a good approximation of VO O2 max. The average watts that you did for that let's say is 200 watts. For the Tabata, you would do 170% of that 200 watts. So it is a very, very high output. And one of my biggest critiques of the Tabata, everything is that most modalities do not allow you to even hit 170% of your VO two max.
Even if you are a rather trained meathead on the aerobic and [00:07:00] anaerobic side, you could do all the one-arm creature curls you want. And unless you are incredibly detrained and even then, I don't think it's possible, you're not gonna hit 170% of your VO two max. The only rule modalities in practice that are probably useful for that are gonna be some type of bike.
Assault bikes do work great for this like the rogue Echo bike or assault bikes. If you're a little bit more trained like they did in the study, you can definitely do it on a cyclometer, you know, cycling. That can definitely happen. You can definitely do it on a rower. I like the concept two rower.
Even though I don't get any money from concept two, I feel like I probably should for how much I plug their stuff. Maybe a Versa Climber, probably do it on that. That's about it. So just by definition, you probably have to be on one of those modalities. In order to even try to hit 170% of VO two max.
Another nice part about those modalities is it gives you power output also so you'll know exactly where you're [00:08:00] at. So the reality is tabatas are not beginner friendly at all. I don't think most people should use them. There are some, like, we'll talk about some pros. There's definitely a lot of cons, but I view this as an extremely advanced protocol.
And again, there's a time and a place to do that, but I would definitely not start with this. If you are a beginner, you are literally just gonna do, even if you're on a row or a bike, a lot of very low quality work. And again, the keys, one of the big principles and the meathead cardio is you wanna do the highest quality work possible and then repeat that.
So if you follow even a lot of the stuff from my good buddy coach Cal de. Obviously we wrote the Phasic two training book. One of the big themes of that book is doing high quality work first, and then have the capacity to repeat it. That's why even if you're a meathead, having a really solid [00:09:00] developed aerobic base and even anaerobic training makes a huge difference, even if you only care about your lifting numbers, because it allows you to do more high quality volume and by high quality volume.
We're talking about. Staying at whatever percentage you've programmed. So let's say if you're doing reps at 85% of your one rep max, you probably don't wanna rest 10 minutes between each set. If you can stay at that workload and you can do it in less time, that is a greater density. Therefore you have more developed your aerobic and to some degree your anaerobic systems.
So that's how I even started doing more aerobic stuff. Obviously there's a ton of health benefits for that. There's a ton of literature showing that. But just for pure lifting, what I found is lifting is easier. I can do a lot more volume and I can do it in a lot less time. So if you're very crunched for time, compressing your training, IE increasing your density is a great [00:10:00] way to get around the time issue.
However, you still wanna do the quality of work. You don't wanna see the weight you're lifting dramatically drop, or the reps you were trying to stay in, especially the rep range. To drop. So I would say it is definitely not a beginner protocol. So what did they actually do in the original Tabata study?
The goal there was to look at young, physically active athletes and they were moderately trained prior to the study. Now, I would say these are probably pretty highly trained. Their starting VO two max was 48 milliliters per kg per minute. And it is true, like this study was effective. So at the end, they gained about seven milliliters per kg per minute.
So it's about a 15% increase, which for a short study, a study was only six weeks. That's pretty damn good. So they ended at around 55 milliliters per kg per minute. So as you know, that is a [00:11:00] standardized per body weight. That's not bad at all. I, I would definitely take that. The caveat is. They have a relatively high VO O2 max to start already.
They're just short of 50. So if your VO two max is in the twenties or thirties, or maybe even low forties, this is probably gonna be very, very difficult for you to do. And what I've seen with how to bot is they're typically done. People will make progress for a couple weeks and then they just get absolutely torched and do not make any further progress.
So. Again, is a VO O2 max of 50 an elite standard, especially by aerobic standards? Nope. But I would say it is definitely on the higher side for sure. So the protocol, as you know, is 20 seconds of all out cycling. And this is done as we mentioned, at 170% of VO O2 max. They completed this for seven to eight rounds with 10 seconds of complete rest between bouts.[00:12:00]
They were using a cycle or goers, so stationary, fancy bike. They did do it at 90 RPMs and they adjusted the intensity to occur exhaustion about the seventh to eighth bout so again, by definition, the protocol was designed at a very high output for enough rounds that most athletes were not able to complete it, and that was designed that way on purpose.
The other part that people forget is this was done four days per week. So what you'll see with some Tabata work is it was done one time per week. Now, again, you may get some benefits from that. There might be a way to do that. I would argue there's better protocols to do in place of that. But if you've ever tried to get motivated to do this.
So years ago I read this study and attempted to do it. I literally made it about a week and a half. Now my VO two max and aerobic [00:13:00] system wasn't super developed at that point. But the main issue I found, and I've tried this again rather recently, it was probably two years ago, holding that output of 170% of VO O2 max with that incomplete rest is very difficult.
And then all honesty, trying to get the al fortitude to do this again four days per week. It was not really fun at all. So the weekly structure, they did four days per week, they did the exhaustive TODA protocol. And then one day per week, they did 30 minutes at 70% of EO two max plus four, what they call non-exhaustive to about bouts.
So this went on for about six weeks. What's cool about the study is they did have a group, they were comparing it to the group, they're comparing it to, did 60 minutes of cycling at 70% of EO two max five days per week. So was a, you know, pretty decent other group that they compared it again. Now it is true.
Compared to that group, was there a significant savings in the amount of time for work [00:14:00] done? Yes. But again, these were rather trained individuals who did this study. What else they saw was anaerobic capacity, which they used something called maximal accumulated. O2 deficit increased by about 28% after six weeks.
Additional notes. What they mentioned was that oxygen uptake during the final bouts approach VO two max. So this was stressing both the aerobic and the anaerobic systems. And I keep harping on this point, but if you do not have a very well developed aerobic system, the odds that you're gonna pull off any type of Tabata training are slim to none.
'cause remember, they're using 10 seconds of rest. So you need a massive aerobic engine to be able to recover to hit 170% of VO O2 max again. So having a good aerobic developed system before you do [00:15:00] something like a Tabata is critical. So what I see is a lot of people promoting Tabatas as a way to start, and I would go back and do aerobic training like we talked about on the level one.
And once you're getting pretty good at that, yes, by all means, there's huge benefits to doing high intensity interval training. There's no question about that. So that's a brief rundown of the study. We'll talk a little bit more about it in the level to training. It did deliver both aerobic and anaerobic gains.
Did do this in a fraction of the time compared to steady state cardio. And the athletes who did this we're a very highly trained population in order to start. So most people doing Tabatas now are not getting anywhere close to that intensity. So in level two I'll go through the protocols that I use that are roughly based on Tabata, but I'll give you a hint.
You can play with the parameters [00:16:00] of either frequency, so you can do it a little bit less days per week. Or you can do it for less rounds per day, or my favorite is you can pull out the rest period again. If we back up all the way and look at what the probably main driver of the principle of this I would argue is it's the ability to do high intensity output.
So a lot of times what I'll do is I'll open up that rest period so that people can repeat the high level of intensity. First, accumulate some volume there and then over time increase the density. IE shorten the rest period. I found that that works way better because again, if you just take someone who has a moderate to low VO two max, and let's say we put them on a rower and they do the first round at 170%, so [00:17:00] they hit in whatever their wattage is, let's say 350 watt.
10 seconds of rest, eh, they might hit the next one. The third or fourth is gonna be pretty difficult. And so yes, you can, you know, force your way through the protocol, but most of the time if that output is dropping really fast now you're not necessarily training at the same prescribed intensity. So that's usually what I find is the, the biggest issue with the Tabata.
So. There you go. That's today's quick breakdown of the classic 1996 Tabata study. We'll have more in the level two class. And then I also wanted to touch on a little bit about the increased use of fat as a fuel. They did measure something, which is called epoch. This is the amount of oxygen you're consuming after the study.
And they did show that there is a fair amount of increase of use of [00:18:00] fat after the study. Now for the amount of work that was done, that's, you know, relatively impressive. However, is that really gonna get you shredded in record time? No, it's probably not enough to do that. It is beneficial. I do think if you're looking to drive fat adaptation.
Or increase the body's use of fat as a fuel, that is one potential lever you can pull. But it is not really where I would start if you do the math and figure out how many grams that is. Again, these are people who are doing it at the prescribed intensity. In terms of comparison for time. Pretty impressive in terms of the total amount actually used for the amount of effort put in.
Eh, it is debatable if it's really gonna make a huge difference. So there you go again. Any questions on that? Let me know. [00:19:00] And if you're interested in this and much more how to do interval training correctly on the anaerobic side, and you're listening to this in time, you can still enroll in the flexible meet at cardio level two.
If you are listening to this after, after it closes this Tuesday night at midnight Pacific Standard Time, August 12th, 2025. Hop onto the newsletter. We'll probably have it open again at some point and on the newsletter, I will tell everyone when that is. So we'll put a link to the newsletter down below.
So thank you so much for listening to this. I really appreciate it. And if you have someone who is interested in Tabata training, feel free to send that over to them. As always, if you can hit the old like button and the downloads and subscribe, all that wonderful stuff, leave us a short review. Whatever stars you feel is appropriate, all that stuff goes a long way to helping us get better distribution with the podcast.
Thank you so much [00:20:00] and we will talk to you again Very.
Speaker: Well, that's talent. An opera singer who tap dances and sings cowboy songs. I wonder if there's anything she isn't good at.
Speaker 2: Yes. Choosing what shoe to be on.
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