Perfect Tabata Workout for Beginners

Tabata workouts are great for people just beginning their fitness journey. It’s a very modular, flexible program that can be as simple or advanced as you design it to be. This makes it a great program to start off with and adjust as your fitness level improves.

We’ve written an in-depth post about what the standard Tabata workout looks like and how it’s structured. Definitely a great read if you want to familiarize yourself with the details of the programs. But just a quick summary of how a basic Tabata program is structured–

One-Exercise Tabata Workout Set Template:
20 seconds: Exercise #1
10 seconds: Rest
Repeat 8 times for a total of 4-minutes

That is one set. You can do as many sets in one workout as you want, but because you’re going at 100% intensity for those 20-seconds, this is a very intense 4-minutes. Also, if you want to add a bit of diversity in your workout, you can choose to do four 20-seconds of one exercise and four 20-seconds of a second exercise instead of doing eight 20-seconds bursts of the same exercise.

But for beginners, we suggest you keep your Tabata workout as simple as possible and focus on full-body compound exercises. You will be able to start off with an attainable workout program, see the benefits and results almost immediately, and then scale the intensity of the workouts as your fitness levels progress.

Here’s a great basic Tabata workout program for beginners

Sunday:
Easy warm-up consisting of a few jumping jacks, arm swings and torso twists, then–
20 seconds: Body Squats
10 seconds: Rest
Repeat 8 times for a total of 4-minutes

Monday:
Easy warm-up consisting of a few jumping jacks, arm swings and torso twists, then–
20 seconds: Pushups
10 seconds: Rest
Repeat 8 times for a total of 4-minutes

Tuesday:
Easy warm-up consisting of a few jumping jacks, arm swings and torso twists, then–
20 seconds: Lunges
10 seconds: Rest
Repeat 8 times for a total of 4-minutes

Wednesday:
Easy warm-up consisting of a few jumping jacks, arm swings and torso twists, then–
20 seconds: Bridges
10 seconds: Rest
Repeat 8 times for a total of 4-minutes

Thursday:
Easy warm-up consisting of a few jumping jacks, arm swings and torso twists, then–
20 seconds: Body Squats
10 seconds: Rest
Repeat 8 times for a total of 4-minutes

Friday:
Easy warm-up consisting of a few jumping jacks, arm swings and torso twists, then–
20 seconds: Supermans
10 seconds: Rest
Repeat 8 times for a total of 4-minutes

Saturday:
Easy warm-up consisting of a few jumping jacks, arm swings and torso twists, then–
20 seconds: Mountain Climbers
10 seconds: Rest
Repeat 8 times for a total of 4-minutes

Once you’ve done this for a few weeks and you feel your fitness level has improved, you can choose to do 2-3 sets per day. Additional sets do not need to be the same exercise. Just remember that once workout days become very intense, it’s best to give yourself a few rest days per week so your body can rebuild muscle and recover!

As you probably noticed, you don’t need any equipment whatsoever to do this workout. You don’t even need a gym membership– you can do it in your home! But there are a few pieces of equipment we do recommend, such as these yoga mats, to make your workout easier and more productive. Here’s our complete list of our favorite pieces of Tabata equipment for even more.

Any questions, comments or suggestions? Leave them below!