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I'm doing the Tabata Workout. I can easily spend more than the 4m/day on it. I work from home so I can take a 5m break and ride the exercise bike anytime I like.

Would there be a benefit from doing it more than 1/day and what is the minimum break b/t those workout sessions?

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    If you are able to pull off two Tabata's in a row you're doing it wrong (or you're already very fit). Remember, it's supposed to be maximum intensity not "well, this is kinda hard I guess".
    – VPeric
    Nov 16, 2012 at 16:02
  • @VPeric, I didn't meant to simply extend the duration. I'd be taking a break. And I am in fairly good shape already (I do fairly difficulty Mt. Biking once a week). But I ride the exercise bike as fast as I can for the 20s "on": I'm off the saddle and usually reach "the burn" point every 20s. OTOH, I feel like I could go back and do it again in 30minutes. So maybe I need to try to pedal even harder. Nov 17, 2012 at 17:42

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It might be fine if you worked up to that kind of training volume, but be careful of overtraining. Tabatas and other HIIT is supposed to be hard.

I happened to stumble across this post from Robb Wolf just a short while before I saw your question. It's relevant.

Training volume is one of those “U-shaped curves”.... Too little isn’t good and neither is too much. Like Goldilocks’ porridge it has to be “just right”. But it must also be said that having too little is far preferable to having too much. If you’re patient, adding volume in small doses is easy. Fixing an overtraining issue that has built up over a few months isn’t. Recovering from an injury can be even worse.

...

If you take something designed to last 4 minutes and stretch it to 16 minutes you have drastically changed the training effect.... Tabatas are plenty hard even when done correctly. Try the Dan John special of front squatting 95 pounds for eight rounds. You’ll be cooked. I guarantee it.

Personally, if I did it once a day for a week and I felt fine, I'd feel okay with doing two-a-days. But I sure wouldn't dive into two or three a day without ramping up slowly.

Also, because strength training is so productive in a variety of ways, you might consider supplementing your exercise-bike Tabatas with strength training.

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