Tabata training.

Tabata training was "discovered" by Japanese scientist Dr. Izumi Tabata and a team of researchers from the National Institute of Fitness and Sports in Tokyo.

Tabata and his team conducted research on two groups of athletes: one group trained at a moderate intensity level while the other group trained at a high intensity level. The moderate intensity group worked out five days a week for a total of six weeks; each workout lasted one hour. The high intensity group worked out four days a week for six weeks; each workout lasted four minutes and 20 seconds (with 10 seconds of rest in between each set).
The results; group one had increased their aerobic system (cardiovascular), but showed little or no results for their anaerobic system (muscle). Group two showed much more increase in their aerobic system than group one, and increased their anaerobic system by 28 percent.

In conclusion, high intensity interval training has more impact on both the aerobic and anaerobic systems.

The Tabata workout lasts only four minutes, but is one of the longest four minutes you'll encounter. The structure of the program is:
Workout hard for 20 seconds
Rest for 10 seconds
Complete eight rounds
You push yourself as hard as you can for 20 seconds and rest for 10 seconds until you complete eight sets. You can do pretty much any exercise you wish. You can do squats, pushups, rows, etc... Any exercise that works your large muscle groups is strongly recommended. Personally I tailor my tabata workout to suit my sport (kickboxing)
Round 1: straight punches into a heavy bag, as hard and fast as possible.

Round 2: left leg kicks into the bag, as hard and fast as possible

Round 3: right leg kicks, as hard and fast as possible

Round 4: press ups, as fast as I can

Round 5: left leg kicks again, this time a different type of kick

Round 6: right leg kicks, same kick as round 5

Round 7: straight punches again.

Round 8: squat jumps, usually holding a pair of light (8-12kg 17.6-26.4lbs) dumbells.

10 seconds rest between rounds.

I count how many reps I achieve of each exercise and try to beat it the next time I do the workout. The techniques I use are specific to my sport but any exercises can be used as long as they employ large muscle groups or compound movements. There's no point using bicep curls and tricep kickbacks in a tabata workout as those movements don't use more than on small muscle and therefore won't get the heart pumping.

As with any HIIT workout, you're not going to burn mad cals during the workout but it has a similar effect to weight training in that you continue to burn cals after you've finished. As it improves both aerobic and anaerobic fitness it's a great addition to any fitness training regime. I try to do a tabata workout at least once per week.

Good stuff here...........one question I remember hitting the heavy bag years ago and it hurt my shoulders some..........do you get any of that?

Not in my shoulders. I get pain in my elbows if I hit the bag wrong with hooks. If my elbow is too low it jars the elbow. That's why coaches always say keep your elbow up when you hook. The only pain I get in my shoulders when I punch is a seriously nasty ache in my delts but that's because I'm using them a hell of a lot.