Coast Range CrossFit

Ever wondered why we don’t do 30 to 40 minute long Hero workouts all the time? I mean, wouldn’t doing those style of workouts get me the results I’m after much faster than those short ten minute and under workouts?

Nope! Take a workout like Tabata. 20 seconds of work and 10 second of rest for 4 minutes total.

Tabata training was discovered by Japanese scientist Dr. Izumi Tabata and a team of researchers from the National Institute of Fitness and Sports in Tokyo.

Tabata and his team conducted research on two groups of athletes. The first group trained at a moderate intensity level while the second group trained at a high-intensity level. The moderate intensity group worked out five days a week for a total of six weeks; each workout lasted one hour. The high-intensity group worked out four days a week for six weeks; each workout lasted four minutes and 20 seconds (with 10 seconds of rest in between each set). 

The results; Group 1 had increased their aerobic system (cardiovascular), but showed little or no results for their anaerobic system (muscle). Group 2 showed much more increase in their aerobic system than Group 1, and increased their anaerobic system by 28 percent. 

In conclusion, high-intensity interval training has more impact on both the aerobic and anaerobic systems.

Not only do short, high intensity workouts get you more bang for your buck, but they also cause less wear and tear on the body. The example above had group two working out fifty five minutes and forty seconds less a day and one whole less day a week. That’s 5 hours of workout time a week compared to 17 minutes and 20 seconds.

Add that up over a few weeks, months, years, and decades and you can imagine how much better you joints would feel if you did short high intensity workouts compared to the longer grueling hour long WODS most want to see.

So next time you think we need “longer” workouts to get you the results you want, first look at your nutrition (ask coach Brittany for help. She just helped our nutrition challengers loose a ton of body fat and gain some serious lean muscle in the process), then ask yourself if you are pushing  hard enough in the “short” WODS we see more often.  Remember… It’s science, not opinion.