Tabata is ofter cited as the Mother of all High Intensity Interval Training. In fact, this is not the case.
High Intensity Interval Training has been documented way back through the ages – right back to ancient Greece and Roman Gladiator training.
In my early military days I remember doing many exercises that would now be recognised as HIIT. One I particularly remember (probably because I was not a strong swimmer) were the relay races across the width of the swimming pool. We had to dive in, swim as fast as possible to the other side, get out and do a set of push-ups, sit-ups, burpees, jumping jacks or other torture conceived by the sadistic PTI (physical training instructor). Only then could the next relay partner start.
Working in teams of 3 meant that one of you was constantly in action. Not being a great swimmer these sessions were not my best.
More recently there have been more famous examples of HIIT. Fartlek Training is one example.
Definition of Fartlek training
- Fartlek training “is simply defined as periods of fast running intermixed with periods of slower running.” For some people, this could be a mix of jogging and sprinting, but for beginners it could be walking with jogging sections added in when possible.
- Fartlek – Wikipedia, the free encyclopediaen.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fartlek
In Britain in the 1970/80s Peter Coe horrified the established athletic coaching fraternity with the method he employed to help coach his son, Sebastien Coe, to become one of the best middle distance runners ever. Coe set sessions involving repeated fast 200 metre runs with only 30 seconds recovery between each fast run. He explicitly targeted “anaerobic conditioning” and “anaerobic capacity training” – very much in line with current HIIT research but considered lunacy at the time.
Professor Tabata did with his 1996 work with Olympic Speed Skaters was to provide a scientifically controlled experiment on the effects of one particular HIIT regimen – the now famous 4 minute miracle.
The results from the Tabata training were so good the the work was eagerly snapped up by the World’s media. HIIT became famous and pretty much synonymous with Tabata.
As you will see, the story is much deeper than this.
