Are you an athlete on a tight schedule? Do you want to cut down your fat and increase your muscle tone? Then circuit training is a great training that will help you to fit in training on those days that you have little time to train but still want to gain the benefits your body needs to compete athletically. Circuit training will give your body a workout that will help build both strength and endurance.
What is circuit training?
Circuit training is an advanced type of resistance training or body conditioning that uses high intensity aerobics. Athletes use circuit training to help build strength and muscle endurance. It consists of ‘circuits’ or a variety of exercises that target different parts of your body in an order that strengthens various muscle groups and is designed to increase intensity as the exercises progress; it includes short rest periods between each circuit and the exercises will increase the heart rate as the individual moves from circuit to circuit. Thereby, in addition, to being able to build endurance it helps to improve cardiovascular health. According to Paula Quinene an ACSM-Certified Health Fitness Specialist
‘… Aerobic exercise also increases the number of capillaries in your working muscles. A healthy cardiovascular system can deliver more blood at a faster rate to exercising muscles…’
Types of Circuits in Circuit Training
Circuit training can consist of exercises such as what Stew Smith a former Navy SEAL advises:
20 Minutes Circuit Workout (*choose light weights for max reps)
- Bench press* or pushups – max in 1:00
- Squats – max in 1:00
- Pullups or pulldowns – 1:00
- Bike or jog – 3:00
- Military press* – 1:00
- Lunges – 1:00 each leg
- Bicep curls – 1:00
- Bike or jog – 3:00
- Tricep extensions.- 1:00
- Leg ext – 1:00 (requires leg machines – or repeat squats with weights)
- Leg curls – 1:00 (requires leg machines – or repeat lunges with weights)
- Situps – 2:00
- Crunches – 2:00
- Stretch
Key Benefits of circuit training
- Great training regardless of a person’s age
- Various athletes in various sports can benefit
- Build strength and endurance
- A variety of circuits to choose from for those athlete’s that like a variety of training exercises
- Intense workout that takes 15-20 minutes
- Noticeable achievement
- Improves cardiovascular health
A training routine composed of circuit training will help the athlete or team excel in their athletic goals through the strengthening of various muscles groups, while training to have a higher level of endurance when it comes to physical endurance and strengthens the cardiovascular system which is necessary to compete longer and stronger.