If you are looking to start fitness but you don't know what activity to do, then how about giving Circuit Training a go?
I have been doing circuit training for over 20 years and its given me great all round fitness, good posture and muscular endurance. I find that it's a great way to keep up my fitness levels now that I have retired from team sports such as rugby and football.
Circuit Training is one of the best all round group activities you can do to improve your overall fitness.
With regards to fitness most people are looking to improve, cardiovascular fitness (CV), muscular endurance and flexibility. A well planned circuit training session will cover all these key elements as well as improving power, strength and balance. Because it's interval based then it's one of the best activities for burning fat.
If you don't know what circuit training is then here's a quick overview.
Circuit training can burn anything between 500 and 750 calories per hour, depending on the person. The great thing about circuit training is that it uses elements of resistance training combined with CV intervals. This blasts your metabolism into overdrive so that you go on burning calories for up to 38 hours after the session.
Circuit training covers the whole body, so you are working out all the major muscle groups for a balanced workout combining strength and endurance/aerobic exercises performed in intervals.
It's an excellent introduction for all the different types of exercises, using free weights, benches and the floor. It teaches you how to work to your max and what it feels like to work in the upper anaerobic training zones. You need to experience this if you want to progress your fitness levels.
Circuit means a group of activities. Each exercise is set at a particular station around the circuit. A typical circuit might consist of anything between 5 and 10 different exercises. To complete the circuit you would start at one station and perform the exercise for a set amount of repetitions or a set time usually 30 to 40 seconds. Once you have completed each exercise there might be a short changeover or rest period before moving on to the next station. You will continue until the whole circuit has been completed.
Its' great for beginners because you work for a short period of time, usually 30 to 40 seconds per exercise. So it doesn't matter how many repetitions of the exercise you do in that time as long as you put in 100% effort and concentrate on doing the exercise with correct form. It doesn't matter if you can do 1 or 20 in the given time which makes it ideal for beginners.
Circuit Training can be performed anywhere with little or no equipment. You can do at home, in the garden, at the gym in a hotel room with a set of dumbbells, resistance bands or even just using your own body weight.
The types of exercises that you might include in a typical circuit are variations of;
Press ups
Squat thrusts
Shuttle runs
Step ups
Side steps
Sit ups
Dips
Military press
Vertical row
Triceps extension
Bent over rowing
Dead lift
Squats
Lunges
Calf raise
And many more.
A well designed circuit session will incorporate a warm up with dynamic stretching, then after the main circuit a cool down and static stretching period. This is very important to prevent injury and muscle soreness.
Related articles: Weight Training
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