Tabata Timer

The default is the original Tabata format: 8 rounds of 20 seconds work and 10 seconds rest, four minutes in total, with a distinct sound at each transition so that you never have to look at the screen. The work intervals are meant to be close to maximal; in Izumi Tabata's 1996 study the athletes cycled at about 170 % of the power they could sustain aerobically, and after six weeks had improved both aerobic and anaerobic capacity while a group doing an hour of moderate cycling improved only the former.

Every number is adjustable. Beginners often start with 20/20 or 15/30 to learn the movements before shortening the rest, and experienced athletes stack two to four blocks with two or three minutes between them. Our Tabata and HIIT guide explains how the work-to-rest ratio changes what a session trains.

The best Tabata movements are ones you can do hard, safely and without setup. Good choices: burpees, jump squats, mountain climbers, kettlebell swings, skipping, rowing or cycling sprints, high knees and push-ups. Poor choices: heavy barbell lifts and anything technical, because form deteriorates by round six and the rest is too short to reset. Many people alternate two movements (rounds 1, 3, 5, 7 squats; rounds 2, 4, 6, 8 push-ups), which spreads the fatigue and makes the eight rounds more sustainable.

Do a proper warm-up first: five minutes of easy movement and two or three short efforts building to intensity. Cold, maximal intervals are the most common cause of strains.

• Effort. During a work interval you should be unable to say more than a word or two. If you can hold a conversation, it is a circuit, not Tabata; that is fine, but expect different results.
• Pacing. Round 8 should look like round 1. If the last rounds fall apart, start the first ones slightly slower.
• Frequency. Two or three sessions a week, on non-consecutive days, is enough for most people. The gains happen during recovery.
• Heart rate. Heart rate lags effort by 20–30 seconds, so it is a poor guide inside a 20-second interval, but a peak near 90 % of maximum in the final rounds is typical.

For custom rounds, warm-up and cool-down phases, and saved presets, use the interval timer. For circuits with named stations of different lengths, the workout timer. For holds such as planks and wall sits, the plank timer tracks your best time. To estimate the energy used, the calorie burn timer applies published MET values to your body weight.