When it comes to delivering efficient, results-driven workouts, interval training is a favorite among fitness professionals — and for good reason. Tabata and HIIT (High-Intensity Interval Training) offer flexible formats that can be adapted to suit a wide range of goals, fitness levels, and equipment setups. Whether you're building out a full program or creating a quick standalone sweat session, these formats pack intensity, structure, and variety into every minute.
What’s the difference between Tabata and HIIT?
Tabata is a structured form of interval training based on a specific timing pattern: 20 seconds of all-out effort followed by 10 seconds of rest, typically repeated for 4 minutes. The format was originally developed for athletes but has since become a go-to tool for anyone looking to improve cardiovascular fitness, muscular endurance, and mental grit — all in a short, focused session.
HIIT (High-Intensity Interval Training) refers to any workout that alternates between periods of high effort and rest or active recovery. Unlike Tabata, HIIT is more flexible in terms of timing, intensity, and structure. It can be tailored to meet the needs of beginners or advanced athletes, and can incorporate everything from sprint intervals and plyometrics to weighted movements and mobility work.
How to Build it
Whenever you’re creating a workout, you’ll be able to create an Autoplay section, just like inserting a traditional Exercise or Circuit. You’ll be able to create a workout that is JUST an Autoplay section or interleave these with any of our traditional exercise modes.
Next, pick from one of two templates: Tabata or HIIT. Both of these have similar characteristics, but vary in one key way.
With Tabata, a user will perform all Sets of an exercise, resting in between, then take an optional extra rest before moving on to the next movement.
If there are 2 exercises, each with 3 sets and extra rests, your user will be guided in this way:
A, Rest, A, Rest, A, Rest, Extra Rest, B, Rest, B, Rest, B, Rest, Extra Rest.
We'll walk you through an example of a Tabata block in the steps below.
With HIIT, a user will perform 1 set of each exercise, resting in between each, before an optional extra rest before returning to the top of the round. If there are 2 exercises, each with 3 sets and extra rests, your user will be guided in this way:
A, Rest, B, Rest, Extra Rest, A, Rest, B, Rest, Extra Rest…
Here’s an example of a HIIT Block on mobile, and below is an example in the dashboard:
Pick your defaults (they can be changed individually later, if you want) and Create!
Just like a regular circuit, go ahead and name your Section and flush it out with a few of the details you see here. You’ll also input how long you want your Extra Rest to be.
Add your exercises in the usual way…
And you’ll see that they take on the default values you selected earlier.
You can change any of these values for an individual set without affecting any of the others. Adjust your Sets/Rounds however you like!
The All AMRAP toggle will switch all values back to AMRAP in a hurry, if you’ve changed your mind.
And remember, you can click and drag to reorder exercises if you like.
In the example below, the user is doing 1 round of 3 exercises: Plank walk, Dumbbell crunch and kettlebell swings. First plank walks: working for 20 seconds, resting for 10 seconds, and repeating 3 times. Then they’ll move on to dumbbell crunches, doing 3 sets of 20 sec on/10 sec off. Lastly they’ll do 3 sets of kettlebell swings 20 on/20 off.
When your users get to this section of a Workout, they’ll be able to preview the movements that are coming up. Notice, we call out in purple text the modality (Tabata) and display the section title that you input earlier.
They’ll hit Play, and receive a countdown to starting. From here, the user can put that phone down and just follow along with their phone screen, allowing them to focus on shredding fat instead of resetting timers and staring at a clock.
Users can always tap the middle of the screen to pause, the right side to head to the next segment of the workout, or the left side to go back.
Swiping up from the bottom will allow your users to log their progress, as well as show off a few other options.
How To Create an EMOM
An EMOM (Every Minute on the Minute) is a type of interval workout where you complete a specific set of movements at the start of every minute, then rest for the remainder of that minute. Once the next minute begins, you start the next round of movements.
To build an EMOM in Playbook:
Choose your movements
Select 1–3 exercises per minute, such as squats, push-ups, or burpees.Set the time
Add a timer to your workout and choose the number of minutes you’d like the EMOM to run (for example, 10, 15, or 20 minutes).Assign reps or time per exercise
Decide how many reps you want completed at the start of each minute. Example: 12 push-ups + 15 squats.Rest between rounds
The faster you complete your reps, the more rest you’ll have before the next minute begins.Adjust difficulty
Modify by changing the number of reps or the total number of minutes.
EMOMs are perfect for improving endurance, pacing, and efficiency while keeping workouts structured and time-based.