Workout-X Guide To Circuit Training
01. Introduction
03. History of Circuit Training
04. Benefits and Disadvantages of Circuit Training
07. Circuit Training in Groups and Alone
08. How Circuit Training Creates Lean Muscle Mass
09. Circuit Training for Women
11. Sample Circuit Training Workouts
12. Conclusion
Introduction
Are you an athlete or fighter in search of explosive power? Or are you just someone interested in getting fit and staying that way? Whichever the case may be, circuit training may be your answer.
The main goal of strength training is to burn fat and gain muscle. There are many ways that you can do this in your workouts. However, it is proven that the best way to burn fat and build lean muscle mass is to utilize circuit training.
Circuit training is unique in that it combines cardio and strength training into one centralized form of exercise. You need both cardio and strength training in order to burn fat and build lean muscle mass. Typically, cardio exercise and strength training are done separately. And, in truth, some cardio exercise outside of circuit training is recommended. However, strength training becomes more effective when treated as a cardio workout.
Circuit training is particularly helpful for those who are trying to lose weight and build muscle at the same time. When you do strength training alone, you build and tone muscle. However, you do not burn fat through typical strength training, so the muscle you are building is not typically visible if you have a lot of weight to lose. However, if you get your metabolic rate up by throwing in some cardio, you will burn fat while you are building that muscle so that you see results much faster.
Circuit training is not something generally taught by personal trainers or physical fitness professionals. Even if you have a vague idea of what circuit training is, you may not know how to apply it to your workouts. In this Guide to Circuit Training, you will learn the history of this exercise method, how it benefits you, the elements to circuit training, and how to apply this knowledge to your every day workouts.
What is Circuit Training
Circuit training is a form of exercise that combines strength training with cardio to boost your metabolism and help you see results faster. This is accomplished by moving continuously, unlike typical strength training where you do a set, rest, then do another set. In circuit training you do a set each of several exercises in a row without resting. Each type of exercise is considered a station, even if you do not move from one location to another to perform the exercise. After a rest of only about one minute, you do the circuit again and again until you have achieved the number of sets you want to accomplish for that work out.
Circuit training typically involves working out various muscle groups in a circuit. You start out working one muscle group, then move on to another and another. For example, you might alternate leg exercises with arm reps followed by bench presses. This allows your muscles a short break after being worked to the point of failure, which is the best way to build lean muscle mass.
Circuit training can be done with bodyweight exercises, free weight exercises, exercise equipment or machines, or a combination of these. This flexibility allows you to create many stations for your circuit based on what you want to accomplish and what you are capable off. You can even work in sports specific training into your circuit if you wish, such as dribbling a soccer ball for a specified length of time or distance.
In short, circuit training is essentially performing various exercises as stations in a circuit. You go from station to station without a break, moving continuously to promote aerobic exercise during your strength training. When you finish the circuit, you start back at the beginning, running through the circuit as many times as necessary to meet your goals.
History of Circuit Training
Circuit training was originally developed in 1953 by R.E. Morgan and G.T. Anderson of the University of Leeds in England. The original purpose of circuit training was to allow individuals to work out at their own level of intensity while still working out together as a group. An original circuit was made up of nine to twelve stations. An individual would work out at a station for a set period of time before moving on to the next station with little or no rest.
Traditionally, a fifteen second to three minute aerobic station was added between work out stations. This kept the aerobic system pumping and ready to go so that the individual burns more fat during their work out. Another variation of this that has been used in the past is having a group run around a gym or open area in a circle, with a trainer calling out bodyweight exercises at intervals.
There have been numerous studies on circuit training and its effects on the body. Starting with Morgan and Anderson, studies showed that circuit training not only met the qualifications for an effective muscular workout, but for a cardiovascular work out as well. These studies were confirmed by Baylor University and The Cooper Institute. Studies from Baylor and the Cooper Institute also showed that this exercise method is the most effective method for increasing muscular endurance. Studies have also shown that circuit training for women is the most effective method of exercise that, when combined with diet, will help them lose weight and keep it off long term.
Today, circuit training is completed by individuals and groups, men and women alike. The exercise method is touted as being the most effective way to build explosive power for sports of all types, including fighting styles. It is also considered the best way to improve muscle endurance, which is also important for today’s athlete.
Benefits and Disadvantages of Circuit Training
There are many benefits to using circuit training in your exercise program. These benefits stem from the fact that you are moving continuously throughout your work out. You will enjoy the benefits of strength training as well as the benefits of cardiovascular fitness.
One of the major benefits of circuit training is that it is versatile. You can include whatever exercises you want in your circuit. This means that you can work with what you have instead of forcing the need for exercise machines and expensive weight sets. You can use your own body weight, dumbbells, medicine balls, or simple tools like jump ropes. A circuit can include from six to fifteen stations, depending on your personal work out goals and your level of fitness prior to starting this type of training.
Variability also allows for the individual to keep from becoming bored with their fitness training. This keeps people interested in their work out routines and makes them less likely to stop before reaching their fitness goals. Additionally, variability means that you can easily choose exercises based on your fitness level. This makes circuit training ideal for beginners and expert strength trainers alike.
Circuit training is also of benefit to athletes. It serves as a way to keep your body fit and generally conditioned without the stress of in season sports. This way you can keep yourself conditioned and in good physical shape even on the off season.
Another benefit of circuit training is that it does not lend itself to injury. Because you are giving your muscles and bones a break between sets, there is less likelihood of injury being caused. Additionally, if you do suffer an injury you can simply remove that type of exercise from your circuit and replace it with something you are physically capable of doing. For example, if you sprain an ankle, you can take jumping rope out of the circuit and add in some bench presses until your injury is healed. This way you can continue to get a work out and nurse your injury at the same time.
There are a few disadvantages to circuit training, although they are hardly outweighed by the benefits. First, you can be hard pressed to do circuit training at a gym, because of the style of training. You may find it difficult to locate open machines for your next exercise when you are only doing each exercise for about one minute. Most people use machines for around thirty minutes at a stretch, so finding open machines can be difficult and nearly impossible. This makes it almost necessary to perform circuit training at home.
This leads to the next disadvantage of circuit training. Because you must do the exercises at home, you will have to purchase the equipment you need to perform the exercises you want to include in your circuit. Thankfully, you can include whatever you want in your circuit, so you can continue exercising while you are saving up for these machines. However, there may be some things you cannot do if you do not have the appropriate equipment.
You will also need a lot of space to do circuit training, because you have to have all of your equipment set up at one time to move throughout the circuit. This may mean that you have to set up a room in your home dedicated to working out. You may also be able to rearrange furniture in a room to create the space you need before your workout. This could be considered part of your warm up, as it is exercise of itself to move things out of the way and set up equipment. This will make your exercise routine take much longer to complete. You will also have to move everything back and put it all away when you are done, which you may not feel like doing after doing circuit training for an hour.
Circuit Training Basics
There are two types of circuit training. Circuit training is usually used synonymously with vertical training. This is the type of circuit training where you complete one set of each exercise in a circuit before repeating the circuit again and again until you have completed the number of sets you wish to perform for that work out. There is, however, another type of circuit training. This is called horizontal training. In horizontal training you do all the sets of an exercise at once before moving on to the next, and you only complete one circuit. This is not a very common way of doing circuit training, but works well if you are going to be at a gym or other location where machines may not be available for traditional vertical training.
The amount of weights a person lifts during each exercise can also vary between sets. An individual can start out with light weights, working up each set until they are lifting heavier weights in the last set. This helps build muscle while also preventing injury. It is especially helpful for beginners, to help you determine how much weight you can lift without injury or undue stress on the muscles.
The most important thing in circuit training is to take small rests between sets, whether it is of a different exercise as in vertical training or the same exercise as with horizontal training. The break between sets should be around thirty to ninety seconds. Each break between circuits should be about one to three minutes. Any less than this and you risk injury. However, any more of a break than these and you will lose the cardio benefits of circuit training.
When developing your own circuit, you should consider what muscle groups you want to work and how you will work them. Decide on whether you will do vertical or horizontal training. You should also carefully consider your current fitness level and your fitness goals. If you are unsure about what to include in a circuit, you can get advice from a personal trainer or a professional at your local gym.
Circuit Training Methods
There are two main methods of circuit training. The first is horizontal training. This method of training is quite simple. In fact, you may be doing a form of this type of training already. All you need to do is come up with six to fifteen exercises that you will be doing in your circuit. Each exercise is performed for the number of sets you wish. For example, you may choose to work the core muscle groups, and do exercises such as bench presses, sit ups, medicine ball throws, kettlebell lifts, and jogging in place. Let us say you want to do three sets of bench presses, sit ups for three minutes, medicine ball throws for three sets, three sets of kettlebell lifts, and three minutes of jogging in place.
You would first start out with a warm up. The warm up is an important part of your work out, and will help decrease the risk of injury. There are a number of ways you can warm up, but various stretches are generally recommended. In this example, you may want to start and end with jogging in place. This is also a good warm up exercise, and a good cool down exercise. You would then do all three sets of bench presses, with a rest of about thirty seconds between sets and a rest of around ninety seconds before moving on to the next exercise. Move through your circuit in this manner, never resting for more than about a minute and a half.
As an additional twist to this method, you can opt to add weight as you progress through each set. For example, you may start out with bench pressing one hundred pounds, then move on to one hundred fifty pounds for your second set and two hundred pounds for your third set. You could do the same with sit ups, doing thirty for your first set, forty for your second set, and fifty for your third set. This progression works the muscles slowly so that the risk for injury is lowered. It is easiest to do this natural progression during horizontal training, because you can easily add the weights in the thirty second break time.
The second method of circuit training is vertical training. This is considered a more traditional form of circuit training, and is usually what people mean when they are talking about the subject. In this example, you would do one minute of jogging, followed by a thirty second rest. You would then do one set of bench presses, followed by another thirty second rest. You would continue in this fashion until you have done one minute or one set of each of your exercises. At the end of the circuit, you can take a one to three minute break before starting back at the beginning with jogging for one minute. You would complete the circuit three times to meet your goal of three sets or three minutes total of each exercise.
Circuit Training in Groups and Alone
Circuit training can be done in groups or alone. The method of circuit training you choose will be determined partially by this preference. By its very nature, horizontal training lends itself more to circuit training in groups. This is because individuals in a group may not exercise at the same rate, and therefore may take longer or shorter periods of time at a station. However, if you focus on number of minutes at a station rather than reps, you can easily incorporate horizontal training for a group.
To do this, you would simply create up to fifteen stations for individuals to rotate in. This means that up to fifteen people could exercise at one time. Set a timer for three to five minutes, and start up. Everyone should start at the same time. When the timer goes off, everyone rotates to the right to the next station they will work out in. This gives them the thirty second break between stations. The timer is then set again, and everyone works out at that station until all of their reps are completed or the timer goes off again. This is done until everyone has made their way through the entire circuit.
You can also do vertical training with a group, but it is a bit more difficult. Vertical training can be done where each individual starts out at a station. They work out at that station for say one to two minutes, before the timer goes off and they change stations. This is done repeatedly until everyone has gone through all stations three to five times. As each circuit is completed a short break of one to two minutes can be taken before the timer is started again.
The key to working out in groups is that it is almost necessary to have someone in charge that will be keeping time and telling everyone when to switch stations. Otherwise you will run into chaos. This is much more difficult than working alone, but it definitely keeps you on your toes and moving through the circuit.
Doing circuit training alone is a bit more mentally demanding, as you will be responsible for making sure that you do not take too long of a break, and that you do not cheat on reps or time at a station. However, it is much easier because you can work through the stations on your own time, doing the number of reps you want to do in the time you want to do them in. As long as you keep moving, there is no reason why you cannot take your time through the stations if you wish. You will also not have to wait on a station if you finish your reps quickly.
How Circuit Training Creates Lean Muscle Mass
Circuit training is usually chosen to build strength, burn fat, and improve aerobic fitness. However, it can also be used to build lean muscle mass. In fact, you can expect a gain of at least 1 to 3.2 kg increase in lean muscle mass within a few weeks of circuit training, if you do it properly. This equates to approximately ten to thirty percent increase in strength.
Circuit training by its very nature will help you build lean muscle mass. The strength training method will actually help you burn fat as you are building muscle, which is by definition building lean muscle mass. Circuit training also builds strength through training and stamina and muscle endurance due to the ongoing, continuous nature of the training program. However, there are a few things you should keep in mind if building lean muscle mass is your main goal for circuit training.
The key to using circuit training to build lean muscle mass is in the exercises you do and in the amount of weight you use to do them. In typical circuit training, weight is not a big factor, and lower weights are often used in order to promote the aerobic aspect of doing the reps quickly. However, if you want to build lean muscle mass with circuit training, you will need to use moderate to heavy weights.
Additionally, traditional circuit training is about picking six to fifteen exercises that together equate a total body work out. However, if you want to build lean muscle mass, compound exercises that work out more than one muscle group at a time are best. You will be able to build muscle mass and speed up your work out at the same time, which is a plus with circuit training. Some of the best compound exercises include military presses, chin ups, dead lifts, squats, lunges, pull downs, push ups, dips and bench presses.
Finally, when you are doing this type of circuit training you may need to increase the rest between sets or between circuits. This is due to the fact that you are using more weight, and therefore a longer rest may be needed to reduce the risk of injury. However, you should still try to keep your rests between sets at under two minutes, and you rest between circuits at under five minutes. This way you can still enjoy the aerobic benefits of circuit training while building lean muscle mass at the same time.
Circuit Training for Women
Women face their own particular troubles when trying to develop a work out regimen. They can find it difficult to get motivated, difficult to lift weights at first, and difficult to build muscle mass and burn fat. Circuit training solves all of these problems easily.
First, circuit training helps keep you motivated. It gives you a variety of exercises to complete in one circuit, giving you the ability to step it up a notch and change up your routine whenever you start getting bored. The variety alone, combined with the continuous pace, is enough to get you started and keep you going through the entire work out.
Secondly, women often find it difficult to perform strength training at first. It can be intimidating, especially for women who have done little exercise in the past. However, with circuit training it is easy to get started with lifting weights. You can try out a variety of strength training exercises, starting out at low weights. Lower weights are generally used in circuit training anyway, because using a lower weight lends to the aerobic aspect of circuit training. This makes circuit training a much easier form of strength training for women to accomplish.
Finally, women find it difficult to burn fat and build lean muscle mass. Doing simple cardio exercise may burn calories, but it is difficult to burn fat and build lean muscle mass with this type of exercise. This is why aerobics is good for maintaining weight, but a poor choice for losing weight. However, circuit training is both aerobic and anaerobic exercise. This means that you are getting in your cardio exercise for good heart health and physical fitness, while also burning fat and gaining muscle. This is a good choice for women in particular for weight loss, because the very nature of circuit training lends itself to losing excess body weight.
Circuit training gives way to other benefits for women as well. For one thing, it is a lot harder to overstrain when you are using circuit training. As long as you only have six to ten exercises in your circuit, and you only do the circuit about three times, you will get a good work out without over doing it. Over doing it could mean injury, longer recovery times, or simply getting burned out on your routine too quickly.
Circuit training also makes it harder to injure yourself. This is because you are taking a break between sets. Your muscles have a chance to rest and recuperate while you are doing the next set of the next exercises. This way you do not risk injuring yourself, which happens routinely when women start a strength training program. Remember to work out at your fitness level, and try not to do everything too soon.
To get the most out of circuit training, women should focus on the lower body rather than the upper body. This will help burn fat and build muscle where women have the most problems, namely in the hips, thighs, glutes, and waist. Abdominal exercises should be plentiful, as should exercises that work out the glutes, hips and thighs. If you have flabby arms you can throw in some exercises that work those muscles as well, but this is primarily an after thought for most women. Many women want to have a lean, proportionate body, not a body full of hard muscles.
Power Circuit Training
Power circuit training is simply an adaptation on the original vertical method circuit training. In power circuit training, you increase the loads you are using, perhaps increase the number of stations, and decrease resting periods. With traditional circuit training you use lower weights to focus on the aerobic exercises that training provides. However, in power circuit training you should be lifting about eighty five percent of your top weight. This will help you build more muscle and burn more fat faster than ever before. There are a few key factors involved in successful power circuit training.
First, keep your repetitions low, around three to six. This way you can focus more on moving the weight quickly than on how many reps you will try to accomplish. This also increases hypotrophy levels, important for burning fat and building lean muscle mass. You will also benefit because the quality of work will be much higher, which is important because you will be experiencing more fatigue toward the end of the circuit, and you want the same number of reps in each circuit.
Second, you should not rest in between sets, but move on to the next exercise immediately. However, between circuits you should rest ninety to a hundred and twenty seconds. A bigger rest period is generally recommended when you first start out with this type of training, but as your body becomes more conditioned you should lower your rest period between circuits. One minute is a good, happy place to keep your rest periods, although some strength trainers opt for an even shorter rest between circuits to keep the heart rate pumping up.
Third, consider volume, or how many circuits you will complete. When you are first starting out you should aim for a lower number of circuits. This will lower the risk of injury as you get used to the fatigue that comes with power circuit training. However, as you get into the swing of power circuit training, you can increase your number of circuits. Three to five circuits is generally the best rule of thumb. This will give you the most work out for your time, without causing too much fatigue or muscle failure. You can also alter the number of circuits you do based on how you are feeling that day, whether or not you are nursing an injury, or how much time you have to spend on your work out that particular day.
In the end, you develop a power circuit training routine the same way you would any vertical training routine. You need to assess your fitness goals, choose exercises based on your problem areas, and devise a circuit. You should also consider changing up your routine or the exercises in your circuit to keep things interesting and work different areas of the body. Remember that with power circuit training, the goal is to lift as much weight as possible as quickly as possible. This builds muscle endurance as well as strength.
Sample Circuit Training Workouts
Each circuit that you create should have a goal of providing a total body workout. However, it is typical to have a particular muscle group that you focus on during a circuit. You can change the exercises in a circuit each day that you work out, doing a different circuit on Wednesday than you did on Monday, and another circuit on Friday. Or you can do the same circuit for several weeks before changing the routine. It is entirely up to you.
Here are some sample circuits that will workout various muscle groups. You should start out doing these with minimal or no weight if you are just starting out in getting fit. As you continue you can add weight at a rate of about ten percent or less each workout. You should start out doing only about two circuits of each sample workout when you are beginning this type of training. After a few weeks you can start adding circuits until you are doing three to five circuits each workout.
Total Body Circuit Training with Abs Focus
12-15 crunches
12-15 bent leg knee raises
10 each side oblique v-up
5 bridges
12-15 back extensions
10-12 squats
10 bench presses
10 pull downs
10 military presses
10 upright rows
10-12 tricep push downs
10-12 leg extensions
10 bicep curls
10-12 leg curls
Total Body Circuit Training with Leg Emphasis
10-12 squats
10 bench presses
10 pull downs
10-12 traveling lunges each leg
10-12 tricep push downs
10-12 leg extensions
10 bicep curls
10-12 leg curls
Circuit Training Using Bodyweight
Do thirty seconds each of these exercises for one complete circuit.
Squat jumps
Push ups
Lunges
Crunches
Burpees
Bench dips
Squat thrusts
Supermans
Circuit Training with Dumbbells and Medicine Balls
Do thirty seconds each of these exercises for one complete circuit.
Half squats
Seated shoulder presses
Reverse ab curls
Figure eights
Push ups
Medicine ball obliques
Medicine ball lunge crossover
Slams
Circuit Training with Resistance Bands
Do thirty seconds each of these exercises for one complete circuit.
Squats
Bench dips or push ups
Sit ups
Lunges
Bent over rows
Lateral rows
Burpees or squat thrusts
Bicep curls
Circuit Training for Upper Body
10-12 incline bench presses
10-12 tricep cable pull downs
10-12 cable bicep curls
10-12 lateral raises
Circuit Training for Lower Body
10-12 hamstring curls
10-12 hack squats
10-12 hip flexion
10-12 calf raises
10-12 glute kickbacks
10-12 squat jumps
Circuit Training for Core Muscles
10-12 romanian dead lifts
10-12 oblique twists
10-12 crunches
10-12 hanging leg raises
10-12 back extensions
10-12 planks
10-12 side planks, each side
Circuit Training for Total Body Workout
Each exercise should be completed for forty five to sixty seconds before moving on to the next for one complete circuit.
Bench presses
Squats
Jumping jacks
Bicep curls
Military presses
Walking lunges
Tricep extensions
Abductor leg raises
Sit ups
Planks
Conclusion
The sample circuits in the previous section are just to get you started. One of the great things about circuit training is that the possibilities are truly endless. You can incorporate whatever exercises you like into your circuit training routines. Include your favorite exercises for a fun work out, or focus on one particular muscle group at a time with exercises designed for those muscles.
In the end, you will see quick results with circuit training. You will see weight loss, loss of body fat, and gaining of lean muscle mass within just a few weeks of starting circuit training. You will also notice that you have more energy and greater stamina in all areas of physical activity. This stamina is gained through the muscular endurance that you obtain in doing strength training continuously for a period of time. The energy comes from the fact that you are doing aerobic exercise as well, which boosts metabolism and energy levels.
Circuit training is appropriate for those of all ages, sizes, and fitness goals. Women and athletes will particularly benefit from this type of training. Athletes will benefit from circuit training because it builds muscular endurance as well as strength. Women will benefit because there is nothing like circuit training to help you burn fat, lose weight, and build lean muscle mass.
If you are interested in starting a circuit training regimen, you should first consult your doctor. Make sure that the exercises you plan to do, the number of reps you are contemplating, and the number of circuits you propose are a good fit for your current fitness level. You should also consult with a personal trainer if you are unsure of what exercises to include in your circuit in order to reach your personal fitness goals.
Finally, read more materials on circuit training to get a good idea of what exercises to include and how to get started. This guide should provide you with enough information to know whether or not circuit training is for you. Your next steps are to determine your fitness level, set fitness goals, and plan out your own circuits to start your training as soon as possible.
