The internet is full of “Get fit in 10 minutes,” type workouts, and they are - in general - crap. Especially when you consider what, “Fit,” means these days, which is some combination of strength, cardiovascular endurance, and aesthetic appeal. A 10 minute workout is not going to give you all of those things, unless you do it four times in a row four days a week. However, 10 minutes IS enough to improve some aspect of your fitness, and short workouts can be great in these situations. Especially if you’re only able to do a “Full” workout twice a week, some supplemental sessions can do a lot for you. Behold: Tabata Burpees. If you’re familiar with these two words - or even just one of them - you probably just let out the same noise a whale does when struck with a harpoon. But wait don’t go! Yes they are hard, but per-minute it’s hard to beat the payoff. Tabata rounds are 20 seconds of work, followed by 10 seconds of rest. Burpees are…well you know what burpees are. Here’s the plan: 8 rounds of Tabata burpees - 2 min rest - 8 more rounds of Tabata burpees. It sounds like a lot - and it is! - and it also only takes 10 minutes. It’s killer on your legs and lungs, and will do wonders for your anaerobic capacity and recovery. You can even do the first couple rounds slowly as a warm up, as long as that motion doesn’t tweak anything. One note: I’d recommend doing burpees without the pushup, because unless you are very strong on pushups, that will become a big limiting factor. In this workout you want to get as many reps as fast as possible. To be perfectly technically honest, burpees are not a great fit for the Tabata protocol. You’re supposed to be able to start and stop very quickly, so it’s “supposed” to be done on something like an assault bike. Burpees have a lot more start up and stop time. However this workout works anyway. I’ve given it to students a month before a test, and they make remarkable gains in their conditioning. This workout is especially good if you only have time for two full workouts in a week. You can focus those on your strength, agility, mobility, etc, and supplement with two Tabata workouts on other days. It only adds 20 minutes of working out to your week, and will give you a big multiple of that in results.
