Studies have shown that circuit training is the most effective way to build cardiovascular fitness and muscular endurance. Circuit training combining both strength and cardiovascular exercises is an excellent way to improve both aspects of your fitness at the same time.
A typical circuit has around 10 or so ’stations’ where a person completes a certain exercise at each station for a set period of time, before moving on to the next station. At each station there is a different exercise which is selected depending on what benefits you are looking to achieve from that particular circuit, a typical circuit will have bodyweight exercises such as push-ups, sit-ups, squat thrusts, burpees etc… and resistance exercises such as dumbbell or barbell curls, shoulder presses and pull ups.
You don’t need expensive equipment for circuit training either. All you really need for a circuit training is space if you make all exercise stations bodyweight exercises.
You can also suit the circuit to the space you have, whether it be a small gym or a football pitch. The main advantage of circuit training is that there is an infinite way that a circuit can be designed, so circuit training can benefit everyone, no matter what your sport.
The main disadvantage of circuit training is that is that it doesn’t build bulk. Circuit training is primarily aimed at improving cardiovascular and muscular endurance and the exercises are done at a high intensity with high repetitions with little resistance. In order to build bulk circuit training, you should reduce the number of repetitions at each station and use heavier weights or greater resistance.
Circuit training is a great tool and most circuits don’t take too long either, so be sure to include them in your routine.
Example Circuit:
Plyometric Push-ups
Dumbbell Curls
Vee Ups
Mountain Climbers
Military Press
Rustys
Squat Thrusts
Jumping Jacks
Squats to Presses
Burpees
This was my workout for 19th June, I worked through this circuit three times.
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