Tabata timer settings
| Setting | Value |
|---|---|
| Work | 0:20 |
| Rest | 0:10 |
| Exercises | 1 |
| Rounds | 8 |
| Round rest | Off |
| Get ready | 0:10 |
| Workout time | 3:50, after the get-ready |
These settings work in any interval timer. If yours only has work, rest and rounds, skip exercises and round rest: they're Interval Pal settings. Get ready is a short countdown before the first round.
Start a Tabata in Interval Pal
Interval Pal is the timer we make, and Tabata is built in.
- Open the Workouts tab.
- Find Classic Tabata among the built-in workouts. It's already set to 20 seconds on, 10 off, 8 rounds.
- Tap its play button. You get 10 seconds to get ready, then your first 20 seconds of work.
The total shows 4:00: the 3:50 workout plus the get-ready. To change the numbers, swipe right on Classic Tabata and tap Use on Timer. The settings move to the Timer tab, where you can adjust them and save your own version.
Why a 4-minute Tabata is 3:50
Eight rounds of work have only seven rests between them: 160 seconds of work and 70 of rest, which is 3:50. Some timers add a rest after the last round and show 4:00. Interval Pal stops on your last work interval.
Where Tabata comes from
The name comes from Izumi Tabata, a Japanese sports scientist. In a 1996 study, his team had seven people train on an exercise bike five days a week for six weeks. Each session was seven or eight 20-second bouts at about 170% of their VO2max, their maximum rate of oxygen use. They rested 10 seconds between bouts. After six weeks, their VO2max had gone up by 7 ml/kg/min and their anaerobic capacity by 28%.
The routine wasn't Tabata's own idea. In his account to Ritsumeikan University, it came from Koichi Irisawa, then head coach of Japan's speed-skating team. Irisawa introduced him to the training, and Tabata studied it.
Most Tabata workouts aren't the original
The study describes the training as exhaustive: seven or eight bouts at about 170% of VO2max.
A 2019 review of 30 studies that built on Tabata's work found that only five said they used the original protocol. The rest used variations, with the intensity set in many different ways, from a percentage of VO2max to all-out effort to how hard it felt. The review concluded that the variations seem to raise aerobic fitness about as much as traditional aerobic training, in less time. Claims that they help with weight loss were not substantiated.
So 20/10 burpees in a class is a Tabata-style workout rather than the 1996 protocol. The review suggests workouts like that can still build aerobic fitness. Warm up for a few minutes first, work hard enough that the last rounds are tough, and keep your form.
This is very vigorous exercise. The NHS advises speaking to your GP first if you have not exercised for some time, or if you have medical conditions or concerns.
Variations
| Variation | Settings | Time |
|---|---|---|
| Half Tabata (built-in Quick Burn) | Work 0:20, rest 0:10, 4 rounds | 1:50 |
| Two moves, alternating | Work 0:20, rest 0:10, 2 exercises, 4 rounds (8 work intervals) | 3:50 |
| Three Tabatas, a minute apart | Work 0:20, rest 0:10, 8 exercises, 3 rounds, round rest 1:00 | 13:30 |
Times leave out the get-ready. If 8 rounds is new to you, start with Quick Burn and build up. With 2 exercises, the screen shows Exercise 1 of 2 or 2 of 2, so you can switch between squats and push-ups without counting. With 8 exercises and 3 rounds, each round is one full Tabata, and round rest gives you a minute between them.
What Interval Pal does and doesn't do
- A big countdown you can read from across the room, in a different colour for work and rest.
- A sound when each interval starts and 3-2-1 beeps before it, over Spotify, Apple Music or a podcast. Your music dips for a moment at each cue, with Lower Music During Cues on by default.
- It keeps going with your phone locked, with a live countdown on the Lock Screen and in the Dynamic Island.
- Classic Tabata is built in, and you can save your own versions.
It doesn't play or choose music. Your own music app does that. There's no Apple Watch app.
Questions
What is a Tabata timer?
An interval timer set to 20 seconds of work and 10 seconds of rest for 8 rounds. Any timer that lets you set work, rest and rounds can run one. See Tabata vs HIIT for a comparison of their timing.
Which exercises work for Tabata?
The 1996 study used an exercise bike. Choose moves you can do hard for 20 seconds and start again after 10: cycling, rowing, running, squats, burpees or kettlebell swings. Heavy lifts are a poor fit, because form slips when you're tired.
Will I hear it over my music?
Yes. Cues play over your music and with your iPhone on silent, and your music dips for a moment at each one. More on that on the interval timer with music page.
Is Interval Pal free?
It's free to download. Running a workout needs Pro: start with a 7-day free trial of the yearly plan, or choose monthly or a one-off lifetime purchase. Prices are shown in the app before you buy.
Sources
- Tabata I, Nishimura K, Kouzaki M and others (1996). Effects of moderate-intensity endurance and high-intensity intermittent training on anaerobic capacity and VO2max. Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise 28(10): 1327 to 1330.
- Viana RB, de Lira CAB, Naves JPA and others (2019). Tabata protocol: a review of its application, variations and outcomes. Clinical Physiology and Functional Imaging 39(1): 1 to 8.
- Ritsumeikan University. Interaction between skate rink and laboratory: Tabata training.
- NHS. Physical activity guidelines for adults aged 19 to 64.
Last updated 12 October 2026
Interval Pal is available on the App Store. Free to download. Running a workout needs Pro: 7-day free trial on the yearly plan, or a one-off lifetime purchase.