Tabatas are a simple yet effective interval training routine. A tabata consists of 4 minutes of 8 intervals: 20 seconds of work, 10 seconds of rest. To experience an entirely different training session consider adding synchronized music to your next tabata session.
We introduce you to Tabata Songs—an app that creates music that syncs to tabata intervals. If you’ve ever done a tabata to music, you’ve probably started your playlist first, hit the clock and then start your 8 rounds of work. The problem with doing it this way is usually keeping track of time. Even if your clock is in sight, you can’t fully concentrate on your intensity and workload because part of your attention is focused on the clock counting down to zero in an interval.
Tabata Songs eliminates that inconvenience providing synchronized music and auditory commands within a track. Search ‘Tabata Songs’ on YouTube, and you’ll find plenty of athletes including Mat Fraser and Brooke Ence performing a round of work to upbeat high tempo music, followed by a cue of ‘3,2,1, BREAK’, notifying them that they have 10 seconds of rest. The tempo of the music simmers down in the rest period, before gradually picking up again as the audio cue announces, ‘3,2,1, GO!’. This is particularly handy for athletes working out alone, as it means that all you need to worry about is training at a high intensity. Tabata Songs takes care of the timing. Even coaches looking after a class don’t have to worry about keeping track of the clock and providing inaccurate cues of when to work and rest. With Tabata Songs, they can divert their attention to where it should be—their athletes.
Tabata Songs was created by Jay Driscoll and John Waynelovic, two touring musicians and workout buddies who wanted to find a better way of keeping track of their intervals during their tabata workouts. Their Tabata Songs playlists provide wide-ranging music genres from hip-hop to country to electronica, so you don’t have to worry about always listening to the same music over and over again. The “Tabata Mixtape Series” features popular workout songs such as “Uptown Funk” and “Back in Black” mixed to the tabata protocol.
Get it: Tabata Songs playlists are available on iTunes, Spotify, Google Play, Amazon MP3, Apple Music, and Rhapsody, with playlists available at just under $10.
