Tabata Protocol

Yesterday I did my 2nd Tabata Workout. My Max. HR got up to 176 BPM (from a high of 174 on my first workout), and my recovery HR was 113 (not improved from 109 last time).

Therefore, I will NOT be adding another interval tomorrow when I do my next workout.

Of particular note, and I should have posted about this before: My heart rate definitely goes up a few ticks when I enter the rest interval. This is desirable and Dr. Sears says this phenomena is an indication that one has created an oxygen deficit. In other words, after the 20 seconds of hard-and-heavy, as soon as one starts pedaling slower during the rest interval, one’s heart rate is supposed to go up a few beats per minute. This is the body compensating for an oxygen deficit whereby the heart pumps faster to get more oxygen to the muscles.

Even though the PACE workout is supposed to cause this elevated HR too, I never saw it happen. I thought it was because my heart rate was already very high and had no where to go. I am pleased to report that with Tabata, every single time I went from the exercise interval to the rest interval I saw my heart rate go up a few notches.

I did my weekly weigh-in today and I am down 1.2 pounds from last week. Hopefully, that is fat and not muscle (I feel thinner and my pants feel a little looser, so when I do my Accumeasure fat caliper pinch tonight we will see if I lost mostly or all fat, or if the weight drop is some muscle). I suspect it is all fat loss, because I can actually FEEL this Tabata workout doing exactly what it is supposed to do - melt away the fat!