Tabata for Kids: Fun HIIT Workouts and Fitness Activities for PE Classes
Updated: 20 hours ago
If you're looking for a fun, effective way to get your students moving, Tabata is a great choice! Tabata is a type of high-intensity interval training (HIIT) that works in any PE class. It gets students of every fitness level moving and sweating. Since you can use almost any exercise and very little equipment, Tabata fits easily into your lessons and can be adjusted to your students' needs and interests.
In this post, I'll explain what Tabata is and why it works so well in PE. I'll share ways to run Tabata in your classes, tips to make it fun and effective, and a sample Tabata workout you can use with your students. Let's get started!
Quick Answer: Tabata is a type of high-intensity interval training: 20 seconds of hard work followed by 10 seconds of rest, repeated 8 times for 4 minutes. In PE, use body-weight exercises like jumping jacks, squats, and mountain climbers at stations or on a screen, warm up first, play upbeat music, and let younger students start with 6 rounds.
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What Is Tabata, and How Can You Use It in PE?
Tabata is named after Dr. Izumi Tabata, a Japanese researcher who studied this type of interval training in the 1990s. A Tabata round is 20 seconds of hard work followed by 10 seconds of rest. A full Tabata repeats that 8 times, for 4 minutes total. Short bursts of hard work like this help build both aerobic fitness (cardiovascular endurance) and anaerobic fitness (the ability to work hard for short bursts).
The short rest breaks give students a quick recovery before the next hard burst. Tabata is a fun, effective way to get students moving in PE, and it helps students push themselves because they know a rest is always just a few seconds away.
Why Is Tabata a Great Fitness Activity for PE?
Tabata is a type of high-intensity interval training (HIIT), which switches between short bursts of hard work and short rests. HIIT is a great way to build cardiovascular endurance and muscular endurance in a short amount of time.
The hard work intervals make muscles work harder than steady exercise does, which helps build strength and power. Tabata is also easy to adjust for every fitness level, since students can work harder or easier based on their own needs. It's a great full-body workout that helps kids build fitness and healthy habits.
One of the best things about Tabata is that you can do it almost anywhere with very little equipment. That's a big help in PE, where space and time are often limited.
Does Tabata Meet PE Standards?
Yes! Tabata is a fun way to help students work toward SHAPE America's Standard 2: Applies knowledge related to movement and fitness concepts.* It also supports Standard 4: Develops personal skills, identifies personal benefits of movement and chooses healthy opportunities for movement.*
How Can You Use Tabata Workouts in PE?
There are lots of ways to use Tabata in your lessons. The key is to keep the work intervals intense and the rests short. That means planning exercises that get students' heart rates up and their muscles working.
One way is to set up stations around the gym or playground and have students rotate through them. Another option is to write the exercises on a whiteboard or poster board, or show them on a screen. Students move through the exercises, doing each one for 20 seconds, followed by 10 seconds of rest.
Tabata workouts are short, so they fit right into a lesson without breaking up the flow of class. With a little creativity, Tabata can be a fun, effective way to help students reach their fitness goals.
Tips for Making Tabata a Success
Here are a few simple ways to make Tabata fun and engaging for your students:
Warm Up First: Make sure students are warmed up before you start. A short jog or some dynamic stretches work great.
Explain the Format: Each round is 20 seconds of all-out effort followed by 10 seconds of rest. A full Tabata is 8 rounds (4 minutes), and younger students can start with 6 rounds (3 minutes).
Pick Age-Appropriate Exercises: Use body-weight exercises like push-ups, mountain climbers, squats, burpees, arm circles, curl-ups, jumping jacks, wall sits, and jogging in place.
Play Upbeat Music: Listen ahead of time to make sure the music is school-appropriate.
Encourage Everyone: Watch your students and cheer them on the whole time. When the Tabata is done, give everyone a high five. They just finished a Tabata!
Tabata is also a great brain break for classroom teachers during transitions. It gives students an active outlet that can help them focus when they get back to work.
Sample Tabata Workout for PE
Tabata works great as a warm-up at the start of a PE lesson, when students have the most energy and are ready to "let loose." You can also use it as a full lesson if you have shorter classes or teach middle and high school students. Just make sure to give water breaks between Tabata rounds.
Here's a Tabata visual with six different exercises and the work (move) and rest times.
Set-Up
Write fitness exercises, like jumping jacks, straight jumps, and wall sits, on a whiteboard or poster paper. (My free packet at the end of this post has Tabata visuals to get you started.)
Hang the Tabata signs on gym walls or attach them to cones around the gym.
How to Play
As students come in, they find a workout poster and start the 6 exercises using the Tabata timer (20 seconds MOVE, 10 seconds REST).
When students finish one Tabata, they move to another workout poster.
Use a Tabata timer app or a stopwatch and music for the move and rest times.
In Summary
A Tabata workout is a great way to add an intense, fun activity to your PE lessons. Use it as a warm-up or a full activity, and adjust it for any fitness level. Tabata gets students active and engaged in PE. Keep an eye on them, encourage them throughout the workout, and give everyone some big praise when they finish! Give Tabata a try in your next PE class. It's sure to be a hit! For more ideas, check out my AMRAP, boot camp, and 7 fitness activities posts.
What do you think about Tabata? Have you tried it in your PE classes? Let me know in the comments below!
Don't forget to grab the free fitness activity packet with Tabata workouts at the end of this post. Until next time, keep moving and stay healthy!
*National Physical Education Standards are used under license from SHAPE America. © 2024, SHAPE America, https://www.shapeamerica.org/. All rights reserved.
Need Resources?
Do you need fitness activities to keep your students active and engaged? Would easy-to-use visuals with clear directions and great graphics help? Here's a free set to help!
Fill in the form below to download a FREE PE Fitness Fun Activity Packet with 10 fun fitness visuals to use in your PE classes.
My Fitness Fun PE Activity Packet has 10 visuals from 5 different activity sets, 2 from each of these: 1. AMRAP Workout Visuals (As Many Rounds as Possible), 2. TABATA Workout Visuals, 3. PE Boot Camp Fitness Blasts, 4. Fidget Spinner Spin Boards, and 5. Dice Fitness Task Cards. Use them as a warm-up or a full PE fitness lesson. Classroom teachers can use them for a brain break, too.
If you want more TABATA workout visuals for your PE program, check out my PE Activity Set: TABATA (High Intensity Interval Training),
12 Visuals and Incentive Tickets.
You can find it in my TPT store: PE Activity: Fun Fitness TABATA Workout for Elementary Phys Ed Lesson Plans
This set has 12 color-coded TABATA workout visuals that give students a high-energy, timed workout. Use them in lots of ways in a PE lesson or as a great warm-up. Classroom teachers can use them as a brain break during the day, too! My AMRAP set is another great fitness option.
About Pete Charrette
Pete Charrette is a National Board Certified physical education teacher and former Georgia PE Teacher of the Year with more than 30 years of experience teaching elementary PE. He is the creator of Cap'n Pete's Power PE and has developed more than 1,000 PE and health resources used by teachers around the world. Pete loves helping PE teachers build programs their students enjoy.
