What’s the Difference Between HIIT and Tabata?

If you’re into exercise, you’ve probably heard the words HIIT and Tabata thrown around. These workouts have become extremely popular in gyms and studios, but do you know the difference between them? Both exercises focus on maximum effort over short periods of time with brief rest breaks. They have been shown to burn fat, aid weight loss, and improve endurance and speed. We’re here to break down what sets HIIT and Tabata apart.

Tabata

Tabata is a type of HIIT that’s four-minutes consisting of eight rounds of 20 seconds of work at maximum effort, followed by 10 seconds of rest. If the class or workout differs from this time, it’s not considered an authentic Tabata.

View this post on Instagram

Now, let’s strengthen our glutes! Having strong glutes are not only beneficial for aspiring IG influencers🤣, but are also important in our every day life. Getting up from the couch(!) , walk up the stairs, walking, running fast, preventing us from slipping/falling, jumping, carrying heavy loads, preventing our knees from caving in while squatting +++🙏🏼 – When bringing our leg sideways we work our glutes, especially the gluteus medius that sits high on the hip, the “top shelf”. 🤪 – By extending our hip/ bringing our leg backwards we work the Gluteus Maximus, the biggest MF of all our muscles😈 – The further down you place the band, the harder it gets. – 1: Straight legged lateral kicks – keep hip straight and centered, neutral back and chest up. Make a little dance out of it if you like, but don’t forget to keep hips centered! 💃🏻 Works your glutes, especially the Gluteus Medius. Great exercise for runners, as it stabilizes hips =your stride. 🏃🏼‍♂️ – 2: Shrimp kicks!? Yeah! 🍤Basically a unilateral (one legged) squat with a kick back at the end where you extend your hips with straight legs. Works your quads, hamstrings, lower back and glutes, especially the Gluteus Maximus + your balance. – On both exercises you can use a 🪑 in front of you to keep the balance if you need to. 👍🏼 – I used a medium miniband here, cheap brand. Resistance is resistance, no matter what brand!🙌🏻 – — #tabataworkout #homebuiltathlete

A post shared by ⚡️S I L J E T O R P⚡️ (@siljetorp) on

HIIT

HIIT workouts are more flexible with the time frame for maximum effort (“on periods”) and rest (“off periods”). By increasing the time for either period, you can play around with the movements, that wouldn’t fit into the 20-second Tabata window. This gives you more flexibility to do complex movements like burpee-mountain climbers or crisscross jumping jacks.

Which is Better?

Tabata and HIIT are great for muscle-building and fat-burning and the results you get are influenced by the exercises you put into your circuits and the effort you give to your workout. Tabata works well if you are short on time or if you’re just starting a routine. As you become stronger, you can increase the length of time with HIIT workouts and you can do more rounds and complex moves.