Killer Total Body TABATA!!

Killer Total Body TABATA!! is another fun and intense HIIT workout from Heather Robertson. This workout is similar to her Total Body Tabata Workout // 12 Minute Tabata with Weights (using different exercises, of course). The difference is this one has 4 tabata circuits rather than 3, which makes it more intense. As the title indicates, this workout is done tabata style: 20 seconds of work followed by 10 seconds of recovery; repeat this 20/10 interval 8 times for a 4 minute tabata circuit. There are 4 tabata circuits in this workout. This is a cardio + strength workout; each circuit alternates between 2 different exercises. One is a compound strength exercise and one is a cardio exercise (or a metabolic cardio exercise). There is a timer in the lower right hand corner of the screen, counting down your intervals and recoveries. During the recoveries Heather previews your next exercise. Unlike traditional tabata workouts, there is no recovery between each tabata circuit–so you are working straight through for 16 minutes, one tabata circuit after the other. So the intensity really builds. You also need to make sure you have any equipment you need close by because 10 seconds is not a lot of time. Especially when you are working hard and need those recoveries!

Due to the length of this workout, I used it as a finisher after Heather’s Kettlebell Circuit // Full Body Workout. Between the two workouts I burned 507 calories and I was in my peak heart rate zone a total of 15 minutes. Looking at the graph FitBit provides, the majority of the red (red=peak heart rate zone) is during this workout. So it was as intense as it feels. This workout has “total body” in the title. Though some of the moves are total body moves, personally, I would never count this as a total body strength workout. This is a finisher workout–a way to round out my hour of working out in the morning and to give myself some additional strength and cardio work. That is the only way I will ever use it. But it is perfect for that purpose.

Killer Total Body TABATA!! is 21:56 minutes; 2:30 minute warm up and 2:30 minute stretch. Equipment: dumbbells and a fitness mat. Heather is using 10 pound dumbbells. Since I used this as a finisher workout after doing one of Heather’s kettlebell workouts and all my kettlebells were already in front of me, I just used kettlebells for all of the exercises that use a single dumbbell. I used a set of 15 pound dumbbells for the exercises that use two dumbbells. The weights listed below are what I used.

Tabata #1:

1. Squat & hop (with legs wide, holding one DB by one bell with both hands, squat and place other end of DB on floor, release DB and jump, land in squat, hold bell of DB in both hands again and straighten) (20# KB)
2. Front swing (hold one DB in both hands and do a controlled kettlebell swing with the DB, raising it until it is straight overhead before lowering it to swing between your legs) (20# KB)
3. Repeat #1 & 2 three more times

Tabata #2:

1. Side lunge & switch (alternating stationary side lunges, reach opposite hand (holding DB) toward foot as you lunge, pass DB from hand to hand) (20# KB)
2. Burpee and press (weighted burpee with overhead press when standing and no push up when in plank) (15# KBs)
3. Repeat #1 & 2 three more times

Tabata #3:

1. Alternating reverse lunges with double arm hammer curls (15# DBs)
2. Crouching jacks (do a jumping jack but when feet come together, lower into a narrow squat, reaching hands to feet)
3. Repeat #1 & 2 three more times

Tabata #4:

1. Inchworm & push up (start standing at end of mat, hinge forward and walk hands out to plank, do one push up, walk hands back to feet, stand and jump, raising arms overhead)
2. High knee run
3. Repeat #1 & 2 three more times

For more info on Heather Robertson’s workouts and other (free) streaming workouts I’ve sampled and reviewed, check out my Streaming page.