It’s just a four-minute workout that’s perfect for time-poor highflyers. But it’s an intense four minutes and they may feel like the longest and the most gruelling moments in your life.

Tabata involves performing a strenuous exercise as hard as you can for 20 seconds. Then you take a 10-second breather and then start again. This has to be repeated eight times to complete the four-minute cycle.

Yes, Tabata is lightning fast but there are no half measures in this new and brutal workout that’s taking the fancy of fitness buffs. “By the end of four minutes, you must feel like you are surely going to die,” says Kamaldeep Chikkara, a fitness expert at Delhi’s Reebok CrossFit Robust.

Izumi Tabata, a Japanese researcher who created the workout in 1996 said back then: “If you feel okay after the workout, then you’ve not done it properly!”

According to experts, the workout helps shed those extra kilos as it raises the heart rate and metabolism. It also builds lean muscles and improves VO2 max (the maximum amount of oxygen the body can utilise during an intense exercise routine) by about 14 per cent.

At first glance, this workout may sound quite easy, but it’s definitely not so. 

One should start with easy exercises — individually or in combination — like running, push-ups, planks, squats, stability ball exercises or weights and increase the difficulty level gradually. 

“Tabata is somewhat a derivation of cross training that works on the upper and lower body alternatively. Beginners must exercise caution as the intensity can become too challenging,” says Mickey Mehta, fitness expert.

Once your body adjusts to the intensity, you can spice up the regimen by creating different Tabata routines.

“Performing a variety of exercises means engaging all your muscles, that in turn boosts metabolism and promotes fat loss,” says Lavina V. Khanna, director at Fusion Fitness in Mumbai.

So, train like a martial arts warrior and pack a punch into your routine by introducing a Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) workout into Tabata. Called Train Like a Fighter, it’s a favourite amongst combat sports enthusiasts as it focuses on conditioning the upper body.

“Making martial arts a Tabata routine would mean performing a combination of powerful punches and squats for 20 seconds each that will give you a full-body workout,” says Chikkara.

One can incorporate combinations like Jab Crosses (left, right punches), uppercuts, elbow strikes, leg kicks and knee kicks at a high speed with squats to complete the cycle.

Bamboo Sticks Tabata is another training regimen that works on both the big and small muscles and tissues to make the body flexible.

“In this workout, you hold the ends of the stick with both hands either in the air or on the ground and try different exercises for 20 seconds each,” says Arya Rakesh Kumar, a certified Tabata instructor, who trains women above 50 and conducts four classes a week.

You can also use props like a Swiss Ball to reduce the impact on the knees. “You can do squat jumps (squat and jump) and use the Swiss Ball for landing. This is really good for the arms and legs and acts as a full-body workout,” adds Kumar.

One can also try lower back stretches (lowering your body with your head tilted back while holding the stick firmly and vertically on the ground) or side belly stretches (stretching sidewise while holding the stick horizontally in the air).

But if that doesn’t pump up your adrenaline then take a look at Skateboarding Tabata, a rigorous cardio workout that involves training with a skateboard.

“Skateboarding Tabata is a fun cardio workout that develops key muscles like hamstrings, glutes, quadriceps, the lower back and the abs. When done in Tabata, they burn all that unwanted fat,” says Khanna, who conducts Tabata classes once a week.

Work on your lower body in a Tabata routine by placing the skateboard vertically on the wall against your back. Squat and push your heels and straighten up moving the skateboard along. To crunch those abs, get into a plank position with your body weight resting on your forearms and elbows and your toes placed on the skateboard. Strike a balance and hold the position for 20 seconds.

An arm conditioning routine will involve dropping to your knees and pushing the skateboard back and forth using your arms or lifting the board off the floor and hoisting it in the air in one motion.

“You need a 15-minute warm up with exercises like squatting and dynamic stretching before slipping into Tabata mode,” says Chikkara.

So, put your lungs on fire and incinerate those extra kilos!