intervals. The results were startling. After six weeks of testing, the group following Tabata’s plan – exercising for just 88 minutes a week – had increased their anaerobic capacity by 28% and their VO 2 max, a key indicator of cardiovascular health and maximal aerobic power, by 15%. The control group, who trained for five hours every week, also improved their VO 2 max, but by 10% – and their training had no effect on anaerobic capacity. “We have also measured increases in heart size after three weeks of doing the protocol,” says Tabata. “And there is also forthcoming research that shows that it lowers the risk of diabetes in humans, something we have already shown in rats.” But there are no half-measures here. You can’t go steady on a cross trainer, chewing gum and reading the latest issue of HELLO! The regimen demands head-down bursts on a stationary bike or rowing machine; explosive bodyweight exercises, sprints or suchlike. Remember how you felt after doing a 100m sprint at school? Imagine doing eight of them with only a ten- second break to recover. “All-out effort at 170% of your VO 2 max is the criterion of the protocol,” says Tabata. “If you feel OK afterwards you’ve not done it properly. The first three repetitions will feel easy but the last two will feel impossibly hard. In the original plan the aim was to get to eight, but some only