20:10 Timer

The 20:10 split is the original Tabata ratio: 20 seconds of near-maximal effort, 10 seconds of rest, 8 rounds, about four minutes total. This 20 10 timer is set to exactly that. No extra setup needed, just hit start.

It’s short and it’s rough. Twenty seconds doesn’t sound like much until you’re actually trying to hold max effort for all of it, and ten seconds of rest barely covers a breath before the next round starts. That’s the point. This is the timing Dr. Izumi Tabata used in his 1996 study on high-intensity intermittent exercise, and it’s where the word “Tabata” as a workout format comes from. The full story, including what the study actually measured, is in What is Tabata.

How to use it

Pick one movement, a bike sprint, kettlebell swings, burpees, mountain climbers, and go all-out for the 20-second work window. Rest for 10. Repeat for 8 rounds. That’s one full Tabata block, done in under 4 minutes.

Running multiple blocks

Four minutes is short by design, but it doesn’t have to be your whole workout. Plenty of people run 2-3 blocks back to back, either the same movement each time or rotating through a few exercises: one block of squats, one of push-ups, one of rows. Add a longer break (a minute or two) between blocks rather than diving straight into the next one. The whole appeal of 20:10 is the intensity, and that only works if you’re recovered enough to hit max effort again.

You can also stack blocks using the sets field in settings, which adds a rest period between each set automatically instead of you tracking it manually.

Who this suits

If you’ve done a few rounds of Tabata before and know what near-maximal effort actually feels like, this is the real thing. If the 2:1 work-to-rest ratio feels too aggressive right now, the 30 second interval timer gives you a full 1:1 ratio to build up with instead, and Tabata for beginners has more on scaling intensity honestly.