Work! 6 reasons why you should be circuit training

“Difficulties strengthen the mind, as labor does the body.” Lucius Annaeus Seneca

While there will be times in your fitness life that you will be learning new movements, working on flexibility, or practicing skill work. There will also be times when you will need to work harder, with efficiency and speed. Your training time should be like life ever evolving progress or regressing depending upon your fitness level. I am a big fan of goal driven program design, using periodization to develop the different energy systems creating well rounded athletes. It does not matter if you’re a recreational runner, a new mom looking to get back in shape, a college kid looking to get bigger and lose that freshman fifteen your all athletes to me. For a breakdown on working the different energy systems, read  "Dont Flame out a guide to recovery." We are looking at circuit training today and specifically 6 reasons why you should be circuit training. Circuit training typically is a workout involving a number of different exercises or stations, once you complete an exercise or station you move quickly from one exercise to the next. This flowing form of training allows for flexibility in the goals for the circuit as well as different modalities.  You can go from a bodyweight exercise to using kettlebells to a cardio exercise to using a TRX suspension trainer. The stations can last anywhere from 30 seconds to three minutes for cardiovascular exercises and 1-4 sets for resistance exercises. What I love is that you can do a circuit anywhere outside, in a gym, at home, or on a business trip at a hotel gym. No excuses! 

The 6 reasons you should be circuit training!(if your not already)

Time: We all go through it, when time is tight for an array of reasons. A perfect example is my client who works in the medical field and is always on the go, more often then not he is on call as well. He wants to stay in peak shape, but with work commitments and family we are short on time. We agreed to a half hour to forty-five minutes four times a week. In that half hour he gets his butt kicked, with carefully planned circuits he is in excellent shape. Truthfully he is progressing faster using this method over traditional training. 

 Results: You want to progress, you want to lose some weight? We are all looking for results, most of us want them yesterday. The fastest way to progress is with circuit training.  You can design circuits for conditioning or you can design them for hypertrophy.  Its really up to your goals and how hard your willing to work for them. Studies at the Baylor University and The Cooper institute show that circuit training is the most efficient way to enhance cardiovascular fitness and muscular endurance. 

Weight Loss: Circuit training is a proven method to lose excess bodyweight. It is used by wrestlers, MMA fighters,

football teams, and the Armed Forces.  The number of calories burned during the session is the start. If done properly your post exercise oxygen consumption will be increased, this will increase the number of calories you burn during the rest of the day.

Anywhere: You can circuit train anywhere, believe me I have.  Whenever I travel I tend to do circuit training combined with running or riding a bike. If I am lucky enough to go on vacation I wanna be with my friends and family, not searching for a gym. I take one kettlebell, my TRX and a jump rope, we make it happen. No waiting for Billy bob to open the gym, no wondering if I make a noise will I get the boot. Get up a little early go to the beach or a park and have some fun, by the time your done everyone else is up for breakfast.  This can apply to a business trip as well, go to the hotel gym or do a workout in your room. If you want to push it, create an outdoor obstacle course circuit doing reps at each station. No limits just your imagination!

Full Body Fitness: Training with circuits allows you to hit muscle groups individually. The body will become toned, sculpted and your conditioning will be a focus as well.  It also allows for you to increase your lean mass which in turn will burn more calories making your body more efficient. 

Fun: No one likes a boring program doing the same thing repeatedly. When your working a circuit you have no time to get bored, its on to the next one. Up the ante get some friends involved in a group training session, this way you have a sense of community.  You can also make a competition out of it, whoever comes in last has to by everyone a post workout shake or lunch. Keep it interesting. 

So these are the top six benefits of circuit training, realistically there are many more. I may go into them with a second part to the article.  I have a sample circuit below that I do myself, I try to do a push, a pull, a quad dominant exercise, a hip dominant exercise and some abdominals. If you want throw in a carry at the end like a farmers walk or a waiters walk with kettlebells.  As with all training modalities they should be periodized as part of a complete training program. I will be posting the supplement article this coming week possibly Sunday. Sorry for any confusion it has been a hectic week.  Thank you for reading, please share this blog. Also if you interested in any custom circuits or program design please contact me.  

Sample Circuit :
Perform 3-4 sets
Jump rope 30 seconds
Push Ups on a Dumbell or Dumbell Bench 12-15 reps
Goblet Squat or Bodyweight Squat 12-15 reps
TRX Row or Renegade Row 12-15 reps
Dumbell Deadlift or Kettlebell Swing 12-15 reps
Janda Curl Ups 12-15 reps

Rest one minute then start again. Enjoy !