Tabata Pushups – Getting The Most Out Of Your 4 Minutes Of Hell

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The first time I attempted Tabata pushups was after a long, intense boxing workout that consisted of over an hour working the heavy bag.

I thought it would be fun to try and hammer out as many reps as possible, believing that 4 minutes of pushups would be a walk in the park.

Oh, how wrong I was.

Long story short, my arms gave in during the 4th round, and I had to resort to doing pushups from my knees.

By the 7th round, I was lying face down on the floor, unable to complete another rep.

Needless to say, it wasn’t a fun experience. But the benefits were too great to ignore.

Why?

Because in those 4 minutes, I’d done more pushups than I’ve ever done in a single training session. And I knew right then and there that I had to make them a regular part of my workout.

So after that, every time I went to the gym to work the bags, I’d end my session with a quick finisher of Tabata pushups.

Now, I’d like to tell you that the story ends there and that It still continues to kick my ass.

But like most things, I eventually strived to get a little more out of my time.

This led to a great deal of experimentation.

See, even though they were hard, I wasn’t really reaching my full potential within those 4 minutes.

This was because once fatigue set in, it became extremely challenging to execute pushups with good form.

So here’s what I did…

I knew that I needed to change things up. So I started researching how to use my time more efficiently to get more out of my workout.

That’s when I came across Mike Whitfield’s Workout Finishers 2.0

After reading Mike’s no fluff guide, I realized that there’s a very simple concept you need to apply if you want to take your pushups (or any other workout) to the next level.

So in today’s blog post, I’m going to be taking you through some of what I’ve learned along the way. So you can get the most out of your Tabata pushups routine.

My Mission To Dominate Tabata Pushups

Now realizing that I wanted to get more out of my Tabata workout. I made a seemingly insignificant change that helped me push past all the little hurdles I’d been trying to overcome.

All I did was alternate between wide pushups, and close grip pushups every single round.

Why?

Because even though pushups target the same group of muscles. (chest and triceps). Changing the type of pushups every round placed slightly more emphasis on either the chest of triceps depending on what pushup variation I was doing.

So, for instance, when I was performing wide pushups, my triceps weren’t as involved in the exercise.

And when I did close pushups, my chest got a little more rest while my triceps took over.

It sounds a little crazy, I know. But by adopting this little change in how I did Tabata pushups. It allowed me to get more work done in those 4 minutes while targeting my muscles from different angles.

How To Get Stronger By Changing Things Up

Eventually, I decided I wanted to get stronger while still maintaining my 4 minutes Tabata pushup routine.

Now, I’m not saying that this can be a direct replacement for heavy strength training.

All I’m saying is that I wanted to see if I could increase my strength while still maintaining the same 4 minutes circuit.

So here’s what I did next…

I educated myself on harder pushup progressions in the hope that I could somehow apply that to Tabata pushups and continue to get stronger without sacrificing time.

Turns out, there are quite a few difficult pushup variations that go way beyond the basics.

For instance, placing your hands further down towards your waist creates a lot more load on your shoulders.

This is called a pseudo pushup. It’s an intermediate to advanced pushup progression that works towards achieving a gymnastic exercise called the planche.

Another advanced pushup progression is the archer pushup.

This works by distributing your weight further to one side of your body. While at the same time reducing the load on the other.

Here’s what it looks like…

So with these two particular variations in mind, I decided to try them at the end of my regular boxing workout.

To be honest, I was a bit too much my first time.

If I remember right, I managed 2 round rounds of archer pushups followed by a round of pseudo pushups before I started to fatigue.

The next 5 rounds were spent doing incline pushups on my knees just to make it to the end of the 4 minutes.

But even though I sucked balls at the harder variations of Tabata pushups, I knew I was onto something, so I decided to try something new.

The Best Time To Do Tabata Pushups

So I scrapped the idea of doing Tabata pushups at the end of my boxing workout. And instead decided to add them to the beginning of my regular calisthenics workout when I was at my strongest.

The improvement I saw was immediate. Instead of gassing after 2-3 rounds, I found that I could now do 4-5 rounds of my new Tabata routine before I had to regress to an easier pushup variation.

And that’s where I’m currently at with my Tabata pushup workout.

I’ve still got a long way to go. But the improvements I’ve made over the past few months have been impressive, to say the least.

Not only am I getting more work done. But the carryover it’s having on my regular calisthenics workout is pretty awesome as well.

Next Steps Of My Journey

Eventually, I’d like to get to the point where I can start adding one arm pushups into my Tabata pushup routine.

Now at the time of writing this, I can only do around 5-6 one-arm pushups on each arm with decent form.

So I’ve got my work cut out form me if I ever want to reach that goal.

But even so, it’s been a learning curve, to say the least. And it just goes to show that there are no limits on what you can achieve when you put your mind to it.

What To Do If Your A Beginner

Now, you might be reading this thinking sh*t I can’t even make it through the first 2 rounds of Tabata pushups.

Well, fret not my friend because there are a few things you can do to get things going if you find yourself in this situation.

Firstly, never be afraid of regression. I’ve talked a lot in this blog post about how I had to regress to doing pushups on my knees as I tired.

It’s nothing to be embarrassed about. Even if you have to regress to the point where you’re performing standing pushups against the wall. It’s still better than doing nothing at all.

As you improve, it’ll soon become a thing of the past, so stay the course and good things will happen.

Another thing you can do if your a beginner is have a play around with the interval times until your ready for the true Tabata protocol.

For instance…

…15 seconds of work followed by 15 seconds of rest for 8 rounds (4 minutes total)

…20 seconds of work followed by 10 seconds of rest for 6 rounds (3 minutes total)

…Or even 10 seconds of work followed by 20 seconds of rest for 8 rounds (4 minutes total)

It’s really not an issue.

As long as you’re working hard and putting in maximum effort with every workout, you will get better.

It’s just a matter of time.

Lastly, you could always throw another exercise into the mix to make things easier.

There’s nothing stopping you adding something like squats into your Tabata workout and setting it out like this…

• 20 Seconds of Pushups
• 10 Seconds of Rest
• 20 Seconds of Squats
• 10 Seconds of Rest

Repeat x4 for a total of 8 rounds

Doing it this way gives your pushing muscles a much-needed break, making it easier when you come to perform your next set.

Give it a try and see what you think.

How To Make Tabata Pushups Harder

Now, if everything I’ve talked about so far seems like child’s play, and you want a way to really ramp up your Tabata pushups. Then it might be time to double down on your workout.

Basically, what I mean by this, is that you should add another set of Tabata pushups somewhere in your workout routine.

Now I’ve never met you, so I don’t know what your regular workout routine looks like.

If you the kind of person that likes to be in and out of the gym in record time, then I’d recommend doing multiple Tabata exercises that target different muscle groups.

Kinda like this…

• Tabata Pushup (Hard variations)
• Rest 2 minutes
• Tabata Squats
• Rest 2 minutes
• Tabata Pushups (Easier variations potentially finishing with pushups on your knees or even wall pushups)

To be honest, this is a little bit overkill when it comes to Tabata pushups. So, if you go down this road, I recommend doing no more than 2 sessions a week at the most.

But if you’re looking for something that’s going to take your pushup game to a whole new level, then why the hell not.

Just don’t overdo it.

Taking Things To The Next Level

If you’re going to take one thing away from this.

Structuring an effective workout (when done correctly) is the easiest part of the puzzle. It’s the hard work and consistency that’ll pay off in the long run.

However, I understand that your time is important, and trudging through hours of long boring blog posts can get a little tedious, especially when your just looking for an effective workout.

If this is the case then I’d highly recommend getting Mike Whitfield’s Workout Finishers 2.0

At the time of writing this, it costs less than 50-bucks. And you’ll get access to over 50 workout finishers guaranteed to get you shredded in as little as 3 minutes.

And what’s more, If you buy it using any of the links on this page, I’ll also throw in 3 awesome training guides worth over $100 as an added bonus.

This includes…

• HIIT to Fit
• Functional Strength
• And Kettlebell Transformation

If you want them, just send me proof (screenshot or receipt) that you brought Workout Finishers 2.0 via the contact form on this website…

…Or email me directly at Dan@Un-Ripped.Com

And I’ll send ALL three guides to your email address ASAP.

Anyway, that about wraps things up for today.

If you have any thoughts or a comment you’d like to share. Go ahead and drop them in the comments box below…