Tabata Taskersize??

I am having my students watch “My Diet is Better than Yours”.  It full of good and bad examples for the students’ educational experience. 

So, after class on Monday, one of my students sent me a link to exercise videos by one of the fitness “experts”, Carolyn Barnes, creator of the “cLean Momma diet” and “taskercise”.  Taskercise is involving exercise in our day-to-day activities, like doing lunges as you push the cart through the grocery store (yes, she had her client do this!).  Now, I am all about getting more physical activity into one’s day, but….

Several of the videos are promoted as “Tabata”.  (Now, in Ms. Barnes’ defense, she does say “Tabata-like” in at least one of the videos.)  However, nothing could be farther from the IE1 protocol original tested in the Izumi Tabata et al. study.  After all, to get the benefit of “Tabata training” (4-minutes of high-intensity intervals—8 cycles of 20 seconds of cycling at approximately 170% of VO2max followed by 10 seconds of recovery), one has to be exercise at very high intensities.  One is not going to be anywhere near maximal (let alone supramaximal) intensities doing household chores (or any of the activities currently labeled as “Tabata”).

I have issues (as I have mentioned several times before) with the misuse of the “Tabata” label.  Even if I yield to the argument that it is just another name for “high-intensity interval training” (or “HIIT”), taskercise can barely hit the mark.  Such HIIT will not provide any significant cardiorespiratory endurance adaptation.  True, there is some calorie burn, but the benefit is in body composition not cardiorespiratory endurance and/or muscle strength and endurance.  Labeling “Taskercise” as “Tabata” is about as bad as the fitness marketing gets.  It sounds great and trendy, but….  There is exercise for everyone.  Some may actually enjoy Taskercise.  If this is you, go for it.  Be your best today; be better tomorrow.  If it is not you, do what you enjoy and will do regularly.  Just don’t expect miracle results in 4 minutes, unless the intensity is enough to leave you a pool on the ground.  To be “Tabata” (i.e., the IE1 protocol) it has to be beyond intense (remember: 170% of VO2max)!

Carpe momento!

Image: http://www.cleanmomma.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/rag-drag-web.jpg