MetCon: The Greatest Weight-loss Exercise in the History of Gravity

  Full article:

http://www.schwarzenegger.com/fitness/post/metcon-the-greatest-weight-loss-exercise-in-the-history-of-gravity

A Tabata analysis and what it teaches us about Metcon

Let’s take Tabata for example - one of MetCon’s most well known protocols:

Usually performed with one, relatively simple exercise - such as a fan bike:

8 rounds

20 seconds of work

10 seconds of rest

at what would equal 170% of your Vo2max

Do you have any idea how mother truckin’ hard that is?

Let’s put this in perspective: V02 Max is the maximum amount of oxygen you can consume during intense exercise. It is commonly measured on a treadmill where by you gradually increase the speed/incline until you damn near fall off the machine. THAT’S your Vo2max (ie - 100% of your V02max.)

Now, of course, oxygen is not the only way the body produces energy. In her infinite wisdom, mother nature gave us another energy system - sans oxygen - that is more powerful but far less resolute, capable of producing shorter bouts of impressive, explosive energy.

Imagine all systems go...the whole kit and caboodle...the baby, the bathwater, and the kitchen sink - producing a max effort at what would equal 170% of your Vo2max.

That’s powerful.

Now imagine sustaining that for 20 seconds.

Not easy.

Now imagine resting for 10 seconds, which by some magical time-warp continuum ends up feeling like 1/10th of a second. And imagine repeating that 7 times.

THAT’S Tabata.