Everyday Systems

In my ceaseless quest for new and innovative ways to cause myself physical pain I have come across a particularly fiendish bit of Japanese abuse called The Tabata Interval, which is basically a wincingly intense means of getting a fierce workout in a mere 4 minutes. NOTE: You might want to plan on spending the other 10 minutes of your workout lying on the floor crying, but that depends on what exercise you choose in step 1.

It's pretty simple, really: 1) pick your favorite exercise - pretty much anything will do, but it apparently works best with compound movements that recruit lots of muscles 2) do as many as you can, as fast as you can for 20 seconds - maximum effort is the guiding principal here, so don't slack off! 3) rest for 10 seconds and 4) repeat the cycle 8 consecutive times for a grand total of four minutes.

To keep track, you can use this handy-dandy Tabata Timer MP3, or you can just stare at a clock. Whatever works.

Experiment #1: Tabata Shovelglove
I decided to try this with my favorite SG move, "stoke the oven" (which I usually think of as "spear thrusts" - I have a violent nature ), which might not have been the best choice because I had to switch sides during each rest period. Next time I'll either do a separate cycle on each side or I'll chose something more symmetrical. I was definitely feeling it by the end, but it wasn't as intense as I was hoping for, despite pushing as hard as I could through the whole thing.

I've got some slight DOMS this morning in my neck, upper back and shoulders, and my right bicep (which has a history of whiny behavior) is kind of uncomfortable, but overall I think it went quite well. I'll probably try something that recruits more core muscles next time.

Experiment #2: Tabata Biking
For the rest periods, I just pedaled slowly to keep my momentum going, and for the work periods I ran that stationary bike as fast my little legs could run it. By the end of this I was about ready to drop! Heart bumping, legs aching, head spinning . . . what a rush! This is no way for any rational person to start a day, so I don't recommend doing this as part of your morning Shugging, but it's a hell of a way to push your muscular endurance and boost your metabolism.

Conclusions:
I can't imagine doing this everyday, but I am going to do 2 cycles every week - one on the bike and one with the hammer, though not likely on the same day. I intend to take things a little easier next time, too.

I think this classifies as an advanced workout technique, so I highly recommend taking it somewhat easy for your first few times out (I didn't, and I wish I had). Push yourself, but don't kill yourself.

I also made the mistake of eating a piece of dark chocolate right before doing this, which is not exactly a great idea on a mostly empty stomach so I was feeling pretty nauseous when I fell off the bike and staggered for a glass of water. Doing this immediately following an extra-long work day was probably a bad idea, too . . .

This sounds very very interesting to me.

Thanks, Phayze, for sharing!

---Kayvan

you can find more on interval training here: http://www.trainforstrength.com/Endurance1.shtml

Taku also posts on the www.mma.tv message board strenght and conditioning section, which is how i found out about shugging

I love tabata intervals! They're brutal, but very, very efficient. I've used them for biking, running, weight training, calisthenics..

Check out this link http://www.t-nation.com/readTopic.do?id=490160 to an article by T-Nation's wise old man, Dan John. "Thrusters" are fun, in a twisted way..

Phayze, thanks for the tabata timer - it's so much better than staring at a clock (which isn't really an option with hill sprints etc).

Sounds fun and effective... but also dangerous (especially with a sledgehammer) and borderline self-torturous.

Interesting, though. Thanks for the post. I'll have to give this a try some time.

Reinhard

Dangerous? Potentially. Self-torturous? Certainly. But also very fun! >:

Definitely something to ease into if you're going to use the hammer. I'm probably going to stick with using this for strictly cardio-oriented exercises like biking, or maybe burpees. I've read in several places that it has the most benefit when you're doing something that really gets your heart pounding.

Now that I've actually taken the time to test this, I've found that it for some bizarre reason starts with the "rest" interval (10 sec).

Not so useful after all..

haha! Yeah, I think that's to give you time to get into position after starting the sound file.

Good point!

Come to think of it, it doesn't make a whole lot of sense to put a rest interval at the end of the sequense, either. I mean, rest 10 sec before you're done?

I must have been really tired when I did the math..