Circuit training is one of the most effective workout routines for both building muscle and burning fat. Depending on the length and quantity of resistance, circuit training can pack on extra pounds of lean muscle quickly, or it can shed those extra pounds of body fat that stubbornly hang around after you've spent hours and hours on the treadmill.
For those who don't know, circuit training is essentially crunching an entire workout routine into a short and intense circuit with little or no rest time. You can select between 3 and 10 different exercises to do back to back with little or no rest in between until the entire circuit is complete. Before I talk more about the best way to construct a circuit, let's talk a little more about why.
The leading principles of muscle building are intensity and progressive overload, whereby each successive session ought to surpass the one prior in terms of total stress put on ones system. The leading principle of fat loss is for ones energy exertion to exceed ones caloric intake, thereby requiring our bodies to draw from fat stored throughout the body to meet our energy needs. Circuit training meets both of these criteria in one short challenging workout.
In applying the principles of muscle gain and fat loss collectively to circuit training, we ought to select compound exercises which use many muscle groups at the same time. We should also select exercises that give us a total body workout, without wasting time on inessential exercises like bicep curls or calf raises. So if the majority of exercises mirror the body's major compound movements, pushing, pulling, squatting, jumping, or shoulder pressing, then we're on the right track.
Some of the best exercises then to accomplish this task of offering biggest bang for buck are pushups, rows (with barbell or rubber band), shoulder press (with barbell or rubber band), upward rows (with barbell or rubber band), squats, jump squats, lunges, jump alternating lunges, running in place, or sprinting. At a beginners level 3 to 4 exercises should be your target number. A sample routine may look like this:
30 seconds of pushups (on knees if regular is too tough)
30 seconds bodyweight squats
30 seconds of shoulder press or hand stand with slightly bent elbows
30 seconds of crunches (optional)
These exercises should be done back to back until the circuit is complete. And then you can rest for 2 to 3 minutes before your second set. For those just starting, 3 sets per session, 3 times per week is a great start.
At more advanced levels the trainee can select a wider variety of exercises which are in keeping with the same fitness principles above. An advanced routine would have between 5 and 10 segments, each segment lasting 30 seconds or 10 to 15 repetitions of an exercise. As you get stronger you have the option of adding exercises, training more frequently, adding sets, or adding weight to each exercise. As you get stronger however it is important to remember another important principle of resistance training; as you get stronger, you should train more intensely, and LESS frequently.
This is not necessarily true for cardio vascular training, but it is a must for resistance training. And since circuit training is a combination of resistance training and cardiovascular training, increased intensity ought to coincide with a reduction in training frequency. That extra time you've gained by waiting for the next session can be filled with interval training on the treadmill or simply watching some movies. Good luck and keep those workouts short and intense.
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