Wowee. Tonight, I tried my first exercise session using the Tabata Method. (I learned of it thanks to some blogging by my old friend Joshua, under the guidance of another old friend Kirez.)

Here’s how it works, according to an excellent introductory article:

It’s simple: take one exercise and perform it in the following manner:

1) For twenty seconds, do as many repetitions as possible.

2) Rest for ten seconds

3) Repeat seven more times!

That’s it! You’re done in four minutes! Oh, and that thing you’re trying to brush off your face? That would be the floor.

I did a four-minute block of front squats — just carrying an extra ten pounds of weights. (I didn’t want to overload myself.) And yes, by the end, my face did need to be scraped off the floor. I was breathing like I’d just run a series of sprints, and my quads were quivering like a bowl of jello. (Even an hour later, my legs were still weak!) After I recovered a bit, I did a set of easy pushups on my TRX suspension system. (My shoulders felt huge afterward.) Next I did a set of bicep curls, then a set of situps. Those last three sessions were challenging, but nothing like the squats. Also, I should mention that to track my time, I used the very handy Tabata-Clock on my laptop.

I suspect that I’m going to be quite sore tomorrow. But if not, then I know that I can ramp up the weight!