8-Minute Fat Loss
If you want to burn fat fast, you don’t have to spend hours at the gym. Check out Get-Fit Guy’s unique workout strategy for losing weight with just 8 minutes of exercise!
Ben Greenfield
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8-Minute Fat Loss
Most of us exercise more than we actually need to. Sure, if you want to finish an Ironman triathlon, run a marathon, or compete in some crazy competition such as the CrossFit Games, then you’ll need either amazing genetics or a lot of time on your hands to exercise.
But if you just want to burn fat, get a better body, and target trouble spots, you’d be surprised at how little you can actually exercise, especially when you use the strategy you’re about to learn in today’s episode – which allows you to get fast fat loss with just 8 minutes of exercise..
How to Use Tabata Sets
Have you ever tried incorporating something called “Tabata training” into your routine? If you want to learn how to lose fat fast with just 8 minutes of exercise, then you’ll need to be familiar with this style of training.
Tabata sets, which are appropriately named after Dr. Izumi Tabata, involve 4 minutes of intense exercise. During those 4 minutes, you alternate between 20 seconds of your maximum effort and 10 seconds of complete rest. Here’s a video of me demonstrating a Tabata set.
You can do a number of exercises with Tabata training – including jump squats, push-ups, sprints, cycling, elliptical – you name it! They key is to go as hard as you can possibly exercise during the 20-seconds-on and then rest for the 10-seconds-off. Tabata training is not only a great way get a better body fast, but it will also significantly boost your metabolism and improve both your aerobic and anaerobic (sprint-style) cardiovascular and muscular endurance.
In fact, in Dr. Tabata’s 1996 study, published in the journal of Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, subjects improved their fitness by 28% after just 6 weeks of training, with 5 days of Tabata sets each week. I’ve also written an article about how even extreme athletes can benefit by including Tabata sets and high intensity interval training in their training routine.
The 8-Minute Fat Loss Workout
Now, are you ready for the Get-Fit Guy spin on the classic Tabata set? Here’s how it goes:
Step #1: Begin your workout with a single 4-minute Tabata set that “warms up” your entire body and works nearly every muscle group. This can be accomplished with exercises such as burpees, squat to overhead press, or dumbbell walking lunges. The key is to burn as many calories and work as many muscles as possible in that short 4-minute time frame.
Step #2: After you’ve finished that first Tabata set, take a breather if you need it (which you probably will if this is your first experience with Tabata training!). Rest for 1-2 minutes. Then, as soon as you’re ready, do another Tabata set, but this time, focus on the one trouble spot that you really want to work.
For example, in Step 2, you could do:
- Narrow-grip push-ups to work the back of your arms (triceps)
- Overhead presses to work your shoulders
- Mountain climbers to get a flat stomach
- High step-ups to work your butt
- Dumbbell incline chest presses to work your upper chest
The list goes on and on, but you get the idea. That second set is your chance to laser target a specific area you want to change on your body. As I wrote in my article How to Tone and Lose Fat in One Body Part, the key to “spot reducing” a specific body part is to not simply work that body part, but to also incorporate in the same workout some kind of exercise that burns lots calories and works lots of muscles. And that is why this potent one-two combo is so effective!
Of course, if you have more than 8 minutes to spare and you want even better results, I’d recommend you include a good warm-up and cool-down into your workout.
If you have questions or you want to talk more about fast fat loss, Tabata sets, or how to lose more weight in less time, then join the conversation at Facebook.com/GetFitGuy!
Push-up image courtesy of Shutterstock.
About the Author
Ben Greenfield received bachelor’s and master’s degrees from University of Idaho in sports science and exercise physiology; personal training and strength and conditioning certifications from the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA); a sports nutrition certification from the International Society of Sports Nutrition (ISSN), an advanced bicycle fitting certification from Serotta. He has over 11 years’ experience in coaching professional, collegiate, and recreational athletes from all sports, and as helped hundreds of clients achieve weight loss and fitness success.