Trying Tabata Protocol

Have been interested in weight lifting for many years. I have a home gym and even got kettle bells before they became all the rage.

I am not, though, good about cardio exercise. Haven't been for years. And that's not a good thing.

I've been working more long brisk walks into my life (harder in the winter as the weather and ice on the country roads aren't cooperative) and using the exercise bike.

Not long ago I ran across something called Sprint 8 which is a kind of interval training that takes 20 minutes. You do a 2 minute warm up on say an exercise bike and then go all out for 30 seconds. You then go really slowly for 90 seconds (2 minutes total). You repeat this 8 times and then do a 2 minute cool down. I like it a lot, but my exercise bike is more than 17 years old (I don't know how old it really is, I inherited it when my mom died, not sure when she bought it) and it doesn't like the "all out." You can't use a treadmill for Sprint 8 (too long to get the treadmill to speed). Tabata seems like it's the same concept. You warm up, then go all out for 20 seconds and rest for 10 and so on working your way up to 4 minutes or 8 cycles. You can jump rope or sprint or use an exercise bike. I've read that some folks use kettle bells, but the Tabata Protocol website recommends against it. I tried a couple intervals this afternoon (two intervals three times). I don't know what the end result will be, but it sure feels a lot like Sprint 8 but harder. The rest period is very, very short.