Chances are you have heard the words “circuit training” thrown around at the gym all the time and chances are that you have actually done a lot of circuit training in group classes whether you realize it or not. To clear the air and make sure we are on the same page, circuit training is when you cycle through a variety of exercises (usually 5 to 10) that target different muscle groups with no rest between exercises. For example, you may go transition from pushups to planks to lunges to supermans to sit-ups and keep repeating until you are toasted. The workout that results is part strength and part cardio, which makes it one of the most effective workouts out there. Circuit training is great because, even if you don’t have access to a gym, you can still get in a killer workout. Circuit training also allows you to get creative and insert a variety of different exercises in to craft a workout that is as easy or as hard as you would like. Below are some of the major benefits of circuit training and they may even make you a circuit training convert for life.
- Great Results in Short Time
Nobody with a busy schedule has hours and hours to spend at the gym, making circuit training a great option for a fitness fix on a time crunch. You can set up as many or as few stations as you like and continue until your time runs out. With circuit training, you can fit in a total-body workout in 15 minutes or an hour or customize the workout to whatever fits your schedule.
- Total Body Challenge
Have you ever found yourself just wandering around the gym winging your workout as you go? We have all been there and by incorporating individual “stations” as part of a whole body circuit, you are guaranteed to hit every major and minor muscle group. A great rule of thumb to go by is to alternate between upper body, lower body, and core and to give it a good rest between every major muscle group.
- Get The Benefits of Cardio and Strength Training
You may love cardio and know you need to do strength training too, or vice versa, but don’t want to spend hours on a tedious workout that you won’t enjoy. Circuit training offers the best of both worlds as you can get a high intensity cardio workout while also incorporating heavy weight training for nothing less than a killer workout.
- Skyrocket Your Metabolism
Thanks to the many benefits of high intensity interval training (HIIT) combined with heavy weight training, circuit training kicks your fat burning metabolism into high gear. With a circuit workout, you will torch more calories in 20 minutes than you would have spending an hour on an elliptical reading a magazine. The afterburning effect of a circuit workout will have your metabolism burning calories for up to 48 hours after the workout.
- Beat Gym Boredom
Since circuit training is organized in such a flexible format, the ways to rearrange your workout are just about limitless. Whether you like to stick to one routine for a while to measure your progress or mix it up every time you go to the gym, having a clear plan will make you both more confident and efficient. There’s no need to be chained to a particular machine or exercise at the gym as circuit training affords you the opportunity to do as many different exercises as you like for a killer full body workout.
