There are two types of people in this world: Those who hate jogging and the crazy ones.

Let's face it, for most cricketers jogging is less fun as getting out for a golden duck, dropping a catch and getting your bowling smashed around the park all rolled into one. But most of us would also admit that being a little fitter would help too.

Enter Dr. Tabata, a Japanese exercise scientist who discovered that you don't need to jog for 60 minutes to improve your fitness. It takes just 4 minutes.

Using a specific method dubbed the Tabata Protocol, the good doctor and his research team discovered you can improve both your endurance in a very short workout time. A perfect workout for time strapped recreational cricketers.

The original study looked at 2 measures of fitness: aerobic and anaerobic energy systems. Both of these measures are not directly important to cricketers. Indirectly, the fitter you are the fast you recover. This is especially true for anaerobic endurance as cricket is a sport that has repeated moments of intense bursts followed by long recovery periods. So it certainly seems that Tabata training has merit, especially considering how much less time it takes than traditional jogging.

How to do Tabata intervals for cricket

The system itself is easy to understand but very hard to do. It's especially tough on the heart, lungs and mind. That's why you should consult a medical professional if you are in any doubt about performing high intensity exercise, even over a short period.

You should also have a good base of fitness through traditional intervals before even considering doing Tabatas.

The original (and lab proven) method was done on a stationary bike. It was performed in the following way:

• 20 seconds of work at very high intensity
• 10 seconds of rest
• Repeat 6-7 times

It seems simple. It won't seem quite so easy during the second and third minutes when your thighs are burning and you know you are only getting a few seconds before the next burst. It's as much a mental challenge as a physical one.

The original plan was done over 6 weeks, 5 days a week with no other training (apart from warm up and cool down). That's where we start to see problems with the method.

Most of us can't cordon off a six week period just to work on our recovery. Skill work alone would suffer but even in the off season we need to think about other factors like strength, power and flexibility.

We know Tabata works but to focus on it at the expense of everything else would be too costly.

Additionally, we know that there is much less crossover to the cricket pitch for work done on a stationary bike that with, say, running.

It's still possible to tap into the Tabata method though, just as part of a complete training plan. From the experience of strength coaches like Rob Ahmun we have learned that you can adapt the system. There are several ways to do it but a simple adaptation is to just cut the number of times per week to 2-3. When combined with other training methods and playing cricket this will still have an effect and will still take less time than jogging.

Although the bike is less specific, it's worth sticking with. This is mainly because you can push yourself much harder on a bike than you could while running with less chance of injury. You can also do running intervals but do them in more traditional interval methods.