Bodyweight Circuit Training For Lean Muscle And Fat Loss

Article by Joe

Bodyweight Circuit Training For Lean Muscle And Fat Loss – Health – Weight Loss

Search by Author, Title or Content

Article ContentAuthor NameArticle Title

Home
Submit Articles
Author Guidelines
Publisher Guidelines
Content Feeds
RSS Feeds
FAQ
Contact Us

Bodyweight Exercises Don’t Work For Gaining Lean Muscle Do they?

What About Fat Loss How Do They Help You Lose Fat?

How is it possible that doing a bodyweight circuit training workout can get you results in lean muscle gains, muscle density and fat burning?

“This isn’t for me. I’m an old school guy. Barbells, Dumbbells and Kettlebells are the way to go,” right?

Now I’ve been a weight training guy for almost 40 years now. I grew up on the lift big and get big philosophy. I was 13 saw a bodybuilding magazine while I was at the Jersey shore and was hooked. I lifted with the idea of gaining as much muscle as possible.

A few years back my ideas about training and how I wanted to look changed. I decided I was getting a little older so I wanted a more lean muscled athletic look. Increase my muscle density and burn more fat. I started reading about bodyweight circuit training and interval training.

But You Don’t Lift Anything With Bodyweight Circuit Training?

I figured if I wasn’t lifting anything how could I keep lean muscle while dropping body fat and increasing muscle density?

Could A Bodyweight Workout Like This Add Lean Muscle And Burn Fat?

** Jumping Jacks

** Push – Ups

** Squats

** Burpees

** Mountain Climbers

** Lunges

Now typically with a bodyweight circuit training workout what you do is one exercise after another, rest about 1 minute and continue for 3-6 circuits. Do this 3-4 times a week. The workouts should take no more than 30 minutes.

So as I said this is a few years ago before interval training and these circuit training workouts started showing up online. Now many years ago bodyweight exercises were very popular in the fitness and bodybuilding circles. But with the advent of aerobics and all the shiny machines they were forgotten. So here was my problem the years of heavy weight training added muscle but also some fat.

What Should I do?

At the time the consensus was running. Jump on a treadmill run for an hour or so 5-6 day’s a week. I hate to run. So this idea didn’t sit well with me. So anyway as I said I started reading about interval training and bodyweight circuit training routines like the one above.

Let me tell you I thought this won’t work it’s too easy. Boy was I wrong. I barely got through the circuit twice. So right from that first workout the way I was huffing and puffing trying to get through that circuit twice I knew okay there is something to these bodyweight circuit training workouts. And I could do them at home was another added bonus. And they take half the time of those marathon cardio workouts that were all the rage.

Okay flash forward a few years. My bodyweight went from a high of 240 lbs to between 185 – 190 today. Bodyweight circuit training really made a difference.

About the Author

Now doing these type of circuits along with my weight training and kettlebell workouts gives me great variety in my workouts. The result? I got the desired lean muscle, lower body fat and greater muscle density and my workouts are never boring.

Use and distribution of this article is subject to our Publisher Guidelines
whereby the original author’s information and copyright must be included.

Joe

RSS Feed

Report Article

Publish Article

Print Article

Add to Favorites

Article Directory
About
FAQ
Contact Us
Advanced Search
Privacy Statement
Disclaimer

GoArticles.com © 2012, All Rights Reserved.

Find More Circuit Training Ideas Articles

Circuit Training Workouts, Circuit Training and Circuit Training Workout

Article by Allen Knight

Circuit Training Workouts, Circuit Training and Circuit Training Workout – Health

Search by Author, Title or Content

Article ContentAuthor NameArticle Title

Home
Submit Articles
Author Guidelines
Publisher Guidelines
Content Feeds
RSS Feeds
FAQ
Contact Us

(go through complete circuit as soon as OR pair work outs for two-three sets ahead of transferring on): go through the circuit as numerous occasions as sought after OR as prolonged as time allows (twenty five minutes max): emphasize exercises requiring a lot more muscles and enable you to use far more weightComplete Body Sample Work outSquat OR Leg press …. superset with …… Dumbell Shoulder pressSplit Squat or Lunge… superset with Dumbbell Chest PressPhase-ups… superset with Mountain ClimbersRestrict stomach perform to 10-minutes every other day as your time is a lot greater invested training greater muscle tissues OR carrying out “intervals” to enhance metabolic rate and expend a lot more energyINTERVALS (twenty minutes whole time)* difficult action followed by durations of a reduce intensity* intervals enhance metabolic rate &amp aid make coaching sessions go by a little faster* on stationary cycle: warm-up for 5 minutes, then go difficult for 30s and sluggish for 60s, repeat 6 instances, cool down for 5 minutes* sprinting: warm-up for five minutes operate tough sixty seconds, relaxation sixty seconds, repeat 5 instances, cool down 5 minutesDietExcess fat reduction via a blend of exercise and calorie restriction is necessary for ideal abs. This signifies much more energy goes out than comes in and that need to lead to a reduction in body excess fat. If it had been only so simple! Right here are some far more state-of-the-art guidelines…* Subtract about 200 to 500 calories every day dependent on your existing caloric intake. The calories need to arrive solely from carbohydrate resources, ideally basic carbohydrates (sugar and processed breads, and so on.).* Minimize your intake of unnecessary fluids these as pop, alcohol, and sugar-packed juices. Enhance your water consumption (3L for every day) and eliminate all sources of fluids that have calories. Get your vitamin demands by means of meals resources and supplementation.* Do NOT starve your self simply because too much caloric restriction may possibly lead to a reduction in the metabolic fee and the entire body will adapt to store fairly than expend electricity.* When trying to lose weight, sustain a protein consumption of 1.2g/kg to stop the loss of lean physique mass (muscle mass).* Record your meals intake in a diet plan log. This will support you change your nutrient proportions and caloric intake.* Base good results on skinfold measurements and body composition analyses, not on the studying from the bathroom scale!* Contemplate a consultation with a registered dietician to figure out a specific diet to help meet your training objectives.Most individuals start off their kettlebell training careers by understanding the standard work outs – like the swing and the turkish get up. But, unfortunately, boredom seems to be a typical theme – even even though the consciousness exists of the want to repeat and function on the same moves, the exercises grow to be stale and motivation wanes generally following a time period of four weeks or so on the exact same software.BTW, this is the specific encounter I had when I initial started out my kettlebell instruction – I was acquiring great final results, but I was doing the identical darn thing each and every day and was getting bored out of my thoughts!!Circuit Training Workouts

About the Author

Really like operating out and supporting other folks to get suit.Circuit Training Workout

Use and distribution of this article is subject to our Publisher Guidelines
whereby the original author’s information and copyright must be included.

Allen Knight

RSS Feed

Report Article

Publish Article

Print Article

Add to Favorites

Article Directory
About
FAQ
Contact Us
Advanced Search
Privacy Statement
Disclaimer

GoArticles.com © 2012, All Rights Reserved.

Related Sample Circuit Training Workouts Articles

12 Amp Circuit Breaker

Product Description
This is the replacement Console for the NT AUDIOSTRIDER 800 Model Number: 236671… More >>

12 Amp Circuit Breaker

Circuit Training Workouts

Circuit training, if done properly, is one of the best ways to get in great shape. But first before you jump into it, you need to know a little about the two training methods your circuit program will consist of. These two different types of training are Aerobic and Anaerobic conditioning.

Aerobic exercise is defined as activities performed at a low intensity, for a extended periods of time. A good duration for an effective aerobic workout should last anywhere between 20 to 45 minutes. Preferred methods of aerobic training are running and cycling for long distances. These are usually considered the most popular methods to burn calories and lose fat, but that doesn’t mean that they are the necessarily the best ones.

Anaerobic training is defined as activities performed where oxygen is used up more quickly than the body is able to replenish inside the working muscle. Anaerobic conditioning consists of muscles contracting at high intensities for short periods of time. Plyometrics, weight lifting, and sprinting are good examples of anaerobic workouts. Sports that execute high levels of anaerobic conditioning for example are football and boxing.

A widely popular misconception about Aerobic exercise is that it’s the best way to lose fat and burn off calories. Replacing fat with muscle is the most effective and fastest way to develop a ripped physique. Muscle naturally causes your metabolism to work at a higher rate throughout the day, causing you to burn fat and calories more rapidly. Aerobic conditioning can be an effective means to getting in shape, but it can restrict muscle growth. Doing just aerobic training is the long way to lose fat. Combining both anaerobic and aerobic training together into one workout regimen, is the best way to get in shape and build a ripped physique. This is done with Circuit Training.

Circuit training is where you perform a series of exercises in a row with no more then 30 seconds rest between each movement. Each exercise will mainly be core movements, which are better for building strength and muscle faster. Also, core exercises help you burn substantially more calories overall than isolated movements. A great benefit to circuit training is that, opposed to traditional weight training routines, that take any where from one to two hours to finish. Circuit training takes 20 to 45 minutes to finish, causing you to burn more calories in less amount of time. The high intensity of circuit training will juice up your metabolism even after you have completed your workout. What this means is that your body will continue to burn calories hours after you have finished your workout. This effect does not occur in low intensity aerobic exercises and weight lifting.

There are two different types of circuit training you can perform, either with calisthenics (body weight exercises), combined with plyometrics, or with weight lifting by working two opposing muscle groups at once.

Weight training incorporated with circuit training is one the most effective and fastest ways to build muscle and strength. Most people dont achieve their muscle building goals because their approach to weight training is wrong.Traditional lifting programs have you doing 3 to 5 sets with 5 to 12 reps for every exercise. Each set takes about 20-30 seconds to complete, after which you rest for about 2-5 minutes before doing the exercise again. This is ineffective when it comes to burning calories and losing fat, which should be one of your goals if you want muscle definition.

By working with weights you can focus a lot more on individul muscle groups, which can help you improve on any specific weak spots. One great benefit to circuit training with weights is that you will only be doing it three times a week. As opposed to more traditional weight training programs where you focus on one muscle group a day and only work it once or twice a week (ex. Chest-Monday, legs-Tuesday, back-Wednesday, etc). Instead, in this program you will working two opposing muscle groups on the same day.

For example, one day you would do chest and back and another day legs and shoulders. Your workouts will consist of six movements, three for chest, and three for back. If you haven’t lifted weights for awhile, your first three weeks you will be getting your muscles acclimated to the weights and the movements you will be performing. You should be performing 3 sets of each movement for 10 to 12 reps, not particulary heavy, but enough in which you ought to be struggling on the last rep. After 3 weeks you should start using additional weight and do and less reps to build even more muscle mass.

For those looking to gain muscle mass and increase strength, will perform the circuit training workout by increasing the resistance by adding pounds. You will perform five sets of 5 to 8 rep, and you should struggle with final few reps. You will combine each of the six movements. For example, you should do a set of bench press, after you wll do a set of pull-ups, weighted pull-ups preferably.

You will have about one minute rest between the two, which should be enough time to prepare you for the next movement. When you lift heavy you should take about 2 1/2 to 5 minute break in between sets, for the purpose having an adequate amount of time for your muscles to recover to execute the following reps. Your going for strength, not muscle failure, so you want to be as strong as possible for each rep. You will need a sufficient amount of rest for the muscle groups you are working in order to complete the desired amount of reps.

The problem with doing this is that you are not burning up a lot of calories. By taking extended breaks your heart rate slows down, therefore your goal to shred off fat and burn up calories becomes to difficult. You will probably not see any muscle definition from all your weight training that you’ve done. Thats why when you see those huge guys that bench 500 pounds, many don’t have much muscle tone, some even look obese. Your objective is to kill to birds with one stone.

By working two different opposing muscle groups together, you get a sufficient amount of rest for the muscles that your targeting to keep lifting heavy. You also get a effective calorie burning workout because your breaks are quick and you’re continuously working. For instance, when you end one exercise, like bench press, then move on to pull-ups right after, the time it will take you to finish your pull-ups gives you a adequate amount of rest time for your chest muscles

Below are some sample circuit training routines. Feel free to experiment with different exercise movements, but try to stick to primarily compound movements, the Biceps and Triceps exercises being an exception. These are the workout routines that correspond the muscle groups being worked. The order they are listed I believe to be the most optimal, but you can change them up as you see fit. You may also combine up the groups differently. For example, rather than performing chest and back together, and shoulders and legs, you can do chest/legs and back/shoulders. Just make certain that youre not pairing up muscle groups that indirectly work supporting muscle groups, like chest and shoulders or back and biceps.

Workout 1: Chest/Back

* Bench Press/ Weighted Pull-Ups
* Incline Press/ Bent-Over Rows
* Weighted Parallel Bar Dips/ Single-Arm Bent Over Rows

Workout 2: Legs/Shoulders

* Squats/ Military Press
* Deadlift/ Lateral Raises
* Straight Legged Deadlift/ Arnold Press

Workout 3: Biceps/Triceps

* Bicep Curl/ Close Grip Bench Press
* Concentration Curl/ Skull Crushers
* Open-Arm Curl/ Weight Bench Dips

For those lifting for muscle tone, I advise you do 8 to 10 reps, but you can continue performing 10 to 12 reps as you did the first 3 weeks if you prefer. For those wanting to increase strength and muscle mass you will complete 5 to 8 reps per exercise. Its essential you increase the weight you use. If you proceed with the exact amount of pounds, you will not see any development and you could not see any gains Adjust the pounds according to how challenging the weight feels. You should struggle with the final one or two reps.

Instead of going through one exercise movement then moving on to the next, you will go through all movements one right after another. Once you completed all six movements, youve completed one set. You will perform three sets all together.

Once you complete a set you will take a 2 to 5 minute break. If your reps are in the 8 to 12 range, I recommend resting for no longer then 2 to 3 minutes. If you are going for strength and doing fewer reps the longer your rest period should be. Youre going for strength not muscle failure, so you want to be as strong as possible on your next set. Also when youre switching between exercises you should take about 30 to 60 seconds to switch between movements. If you are lifting heavy, 45 to 60 seconds is good, but no more then a minute. Lifting light, you should take no longer then 30 seconds. The only rest time you should have between exercises is the amount of time it takes you to get to one exercise to the next. For example, its your chest and back day, your six movements are bench press, pull-ups, incline press, bent over rows, butterflies, and lat pull downs, you will perform all six of them consecutively without a break in between them. The only break time you should have in between exercises is the amount of time it takes you to get to the following workout. It should take no then 30 to 45 secs to adjust your weight accordingly and begin the subsequent exercise.

It’s good to know how much weight you will be using before you begin each set. To pick up the intensity of your workout to burn even more calories, try running from workout to workout.

If done right this workout should take you no more then 30 minutes to finish this workout. This is a very intense workout and 30 minutes is a sufficient amount of time for a great anaerobic and aerobic workout. You should be breathing hard and sweating a lot by the time youre done. If not, you need to work harder. Either try adding more weight to the exercises or try to make the duration of time it takes you to get to one workout to the next shorter. You can also shorten your rest time during your breaks. It would be even more beneficial if you finished up with abs or jogged for 10 to 20 minutes.

Below are some circuit training routines. Experiment with different exercises but try to stick with mostly compound exercises, in exception to the Triceps and Biceps routine. Complete the exercises in the order that they are listed.

Workout 1: Chest/Back

* Bench Press
* Wide Grip Pull-Ups
* Incline Dumbbell Press
* Bent-Over Rows
* Dumbbell Flys
* Seated Rows

Workout 2: Legs/Shoulders

* Military Press
* Leg Press
* Front Raises
* Lunges
* Lateral Raises

Workout 3: Biceps/Triceps

* Close-Grip Bench Press
* Bicep Curls
* Skull Crushers
* One-Arm Concentration Curl
* Dumbbell Kick Backs
* Open-Arm Curls

Circuit Training Tips For New Exercise Ideas

Want to know a few circuit training tips that will help you develop some new exercise ideas that fall way outside of the box of boring and traditional? Here are a few ways, new and innovative, to incorporate the fat blasting power of circuit training with some cutting edge exercises techniques that will provide great results with a wide spectrum of possibilities.

Surge training is a new type of exercise that challenges the philosophy of traditional training, while maximizing fat loss and cutting gym time into a fraction of what is usually considered effective. The problem with standardized exercise programs is that they tend to stake all of their findings on a generalized, averaged basis. This means that it tries to marginalize the spectrum of different fields of data to make room for all scientific findings.

Surge training happens to be on the cutting edge of scientific studies, and is of the mindset that you can get a great, high intensity, short circuit workout done in less than 15 minutes and still see results.

An example of a Surge Training workout would include a lot of body weight exercises, like reverse lunges, jumping squats, bodyweight squat, plank, mountain climbers, and a bodyweight push up on a balance ball, with none of the exercises lasting longer than 20 seconds. If this rotation is completed three times at that rapid-fire speed your body will be so spent, that you will feel like you have just gotten in a long workout at the gym. After finishing, you will notice that your body responds to high intensity training much better than getting in hours at the gym, and you will notice in less time you will see better results. This is a modified circuit, but the speed interval aspect of the training makes all the difference.

Another unique way to make circuit training fresh is to take it outside! Too many people think that the parameters of a gym and the weight rack are the only tools that you can use to successfully put together an effective circuit-training program. The truth is that our bodies carry all the weight we need in and of itself to challenge our muscles and in turn build tone; we just have to isolate them correctly and in the right environment. In the park, you can find all sorts of ways to step up your program, literally!

Find More Exercise Training Tips Articles

Circuit Training For Beginners

Circuit training is a method of exercise with which you will get the combination of the benefits of weight lifting along with cardio. Since you may be unfamiliar with the way that circuit training works, here are some helpful tips to get you started. Along with some of the exercises, I’ll provide you with some hints you can use at home. Though most gyms have circuit training classes, you’ll have enough information to start a training program at home.

Circuit training takes its name from an electrical circuit in that you go all the way around a series of exercises until you “complete the circuit” before beginning the sequence again. For example, you might do an upper body exercise like pull ups, followed by a lower body exercise like squats, followed by a full body exercise like jumping jacks. Since your heart rate remains at a relatively high rate during the entire circuit, you will get a high quality workout that will give you results faster. You get the advantages of strength training and the benefits of cardio at the same time.

When I first started circuit training I found out that it was best to use between 5-10 exercises in each circuit. You want a total of 20-25 sets so if you choose 5 exercises, you are going to have to do at least 4 rounds whereas if you have 8 exercises you only have to complete 3 rounds. Make sure to warm up by moving your arms and legs rather than using static stretching. Do that afterwards. You want to do a dynamic (moving) warm up to get blood into the muscles.

All right, now that we are done with our warm up, let’s start our circuit. A good whole body exercise like jumping jacks is a good way to start. Next we need some good upper body exercises. Lets use two types of push ups. I like to use Hindu push ups and spiderman push ups but since we are designing this for beginners, we’ll use the standard push up which you can even do on your knees, and close grip push ups, with the hands close together. Let’s throw in an inverted row to round out the upper body exercises.

Now we need some lower body exercises. Lets use lunges, mountain climbers, step ups, and squats. Now all we have left is to arrange them. We’ll put the jumping jacks at the beginning to get the whole body ready for action. Next we’ll arrange the exercises alternating upper and lower body exercises. We call this non-opposing exercises. The upper body exercise does not share any muscle groups with the previous or subsequent lower body exercises. Now all we have to do is order the exercises and we come up with this:

Jumping Jacks 60
Lunges 20
Push Ups 20
Mountain Climbers 20/leg
Step Ups 20
Inverted Rows 20
Squats 20
Close Grip Push Ups 20

(Repeat 3 times)

Now you know what you need to get to started. As you get stronger you can add more repetitions and modify the exercises to incorporate more difficult exercise variations.

Find More What Is Circuit Training Articles

System Excess weight Circuit Training and You

Article by Deandre Shields

System Excess weight Circuit Training and You – Law

Search by Author, Title or Content

Article ContentAuthor NameArticle Title

Home
Submit Articles
Author Guidelines
Publisher Guidelines
Content Feeds
RSS Feeds
FAQ
Contact Us

o Raising issues in regulating blood sugar, leading to diabetes.o Degenerative arthritis as a consequence of losing muscle that supports and protects our joints, particularly the knees.o A drop in the “good” or HDL cholesterol major to cardiovascular sickness.o An greater tendency for injury to our bodies immediately after small trauma because of to loss of protective muscle tissue.Strength coaching can avoid these issues by its part in setting up and restoring muscle mass. Strength schooling is the only antidote for sarcopenia.Aerobic exercising alone tends to fatigue the cardiovascular and respiratory techniques prior to creating satisfactory muscle. This is excellent for the heart and lungs, but does little to counteract the method of sarcopenia.Setting up muscle is also the an individual successful implies of strengthening our metabolic process. Muscle is the motor that burns most of the fuel in our bodies. The sum of muscle that we has a significant impact on our basal metabolism. Basal metabolic process can be believed of as the range of calories our bodies burn up just about every day just to preserve our bodies operating – our hearts beating, lungs breathing and so on. Basal metabolic rate accounts for practically seventy five% of all of the calories we burn -the remaining 25% is burned by all of the relaxation of our day-to-day bodily actions. What this indicates is that even smaller boosts in the basal metabolic process develop sizeable increases in the selection of calories our bodies burn up each day.Developing muscle could be in contrast to including two cylinders to your car’s engine – your automobile would burn up additional gas each when you are driving as properly as idling. Developing muscle is the finest way to increase your body’s metabolic rate each with work out and at relaxation.Strength teaching is the only way to counteract the effects of sarcopenia and guard our body’s metabolic process whilst supporting to protect against a assortment of severe well being issues.Possessing an suitable lean body mass (muscle) has been affiliated with protection from a range of health situations which include diabetes, cardiovascular condition, osteoporosis, and some varieties of cancer.Which License ought to I get?There are 4 standard types of firearms permits and licenses in Massachusetts at the time of this creating.

A Limited FID card allows the holder to get and possess chemical spray (ie mace and pepper spray). Chemical sprays are thought to be ammunition in Massachusetts. The applicant ought to be eighteen decades of age or older.A Firearms Identification Card (FID) allows the holder to acquire and possess non-substantial capacity rifles and shotguns. An applicant for the FID card have to be fifteen years of age or older, and need to have parental authorization if less than eighteen. A allow holder have to be eighteen decades aged to obtain firearms and ammunition.A License to Carry Class B (LTC-B) enables the holder to purchase and have non-big ability handguns and substantial ability rifles and shotguns. An LTC-B never ever allows the holder to carry a concealed firearm on a public way.A License to Carry Class A (LTC-A) makes it possible for the holder to buy and have substantial ability handguns and massive potential rifles and shotguns.
About the Author

Xtreme Change is one of the best function out studios in the Boston region. Dave will hook you up with a wonderful work out!Personal Training Massachusetts

Use and distribution of this article is subject to our Publisher Guidelines
whereby the original author’s information and copyright must be included.

Deandre Shields

RSS Feed

Report Article

Publish Article

Print Article

Add to Favorites

Article Directory
About
FAQ
Contact Us
Advanced Search
Privacy Statement
Disclaimer

GoArticles.com © 2012, All Rights Reserved.

Related Weight Circuit Training Articles

Circuit Training For Weight Loss

According to fitness experts, circuit training is like a fat burning machine. What is circuit training? It’s an exercise program that consists of high intensity, single set, high repetition workouts.

Mini circuits consist of 3-4 different exercises: bench press, body weight squats, bicep curls w/barbell, and cardio (bike for 5 minutes – high intensity). The circuit is repeated 3-4 times, with 30-45 seconds of rest in between each loop. Instructions for each exercise are listed below:

Bench press:
Incline or flat bench dumbbell press / or push-ups. Use comfortable weight. One set of 10-12 repetitions.
1. Sit down on the bench with the dumbbells resting on lower thighs. Pick up the weights to shoulder and lie back simultaneously. Position dumbbells to sides of chest with the arms bent under each dumbbell.
2.

Push up dumbbells with elbows to sides until the arms are fully extended. Then lower dumbbells to the sides of the upper chest until slight stretch is felt in the chest. This completes one repetition.

Body weight squats:
Using body only, no weights. One set of 10-12 repetitions.
1. Stand with feet shoulder width apart and knees slightly bent.
2. Lower body by flexing at the hips and knees. Upper body can flex forward at the hips slightly (~5°) during movement. Be sure to “sit back” so that knees stay over the feet.
3. For balance, hold on to a chair or handle bars of a machine. Once thigh is slightly above parallel return to start position.
5. Remember to keep head and back straight in a neutral position – hyper extension or flexion may cause injury. Keep weight centered on the heels, not the toes. Keep abdominals tight throughout exercise by drawing stomach in toward spine.

Bicep curls with barbell:
Use barbell, comfortable weight, standing up. One set of 10-12 repetitions.
1. Using a shoulder-width grip, grasp the barbell with an underhand grip.
2. Stand up straight with your feet shoulder width apart.
3. Curl the bar up toward your chest in an arc, keeping your elbows locked in the same place close to your sides.
4. Bring the weight up as high as you can and squeeze the biceps at the peak of the movement for a one-count. Lower the bar slowly, and return to the start position. This completes one repetition.

A regular circuit consists of 6-8 exercises, focusing on different body parts with higher repetitions 15-20 and 4-5 iterations of the circuit. For the cardio portion, include jump rope and bike, or treadmill run for 5 minutes. A great circuit would consist of: push ups, body weight squats, bike 5 minutes, then bicep curls with barbell, triceps extensions, jump rope for 2-3 minutes, finally ab crunches, plank for 1 minute, and floor bridges. The circuit is then repeated 4-5 times for the complete workout. Instructions not already mentioned above for each exercise are listed below:

Push ups:
No weights. One set of 15-20 repetitions.
1. Lie chest down with hands at shoulder level, palms flat on floor.
2. Using arms, push up from the floor, exhaling while extending the arms. Keep the back straight, and core tight with legs straight as well.
3. Pause, then bend the arms with the back straight, inhaling until the chest touches the floor but no other part of the body should touch.
4. Pause for a moment then repeat.

Triceps extensions:
One dumbbell, comfortable weight. One set of 15-20 repetitions.
1. Sitting on a bench, position the dumbbell overhead with both hands under the inner plate.
2. With elbows pointing up, arms parallel, lower forearms by flexing the elbows. Flex wrists at the bottom to avoid hitting dumbbell on back of neck.
3. Raise dumbbell overhead by extending elbows while hyperextending wrists. This completes one iteration.

Ab crunches:
One set of 15-20 repetitions.
1. Lay flat on back, with feet should width apart and knees bent.
2. With the hands lightly grasped behind the head, lift shoulders off of the floor by contracting the abdominals. Be sure feet are kept on the floor throughout the entire crunch.
3. Lower body back down to lay back on floor pause and repeat iteration.

Plank:
One set, hold for 1 minute.
1. Position body straight, with forearms on the floor holding body up and toes touching the floor shoulder width apart.
2. Keep back straight and abdominals tight. Hold position for 1 minute.

Floor bridges:
One set of 15-20 repetitions.
1. Lye on the back, with the legs bent, feet on the floor and shoulder width apart.
2. Bring the hips up from the floor until even with the knees, with the head and shoulders keeping contact with the floor and relaxed. Try to form a straight line with chest and hips and knees, hold for 2 seconds. Make sure to stay on heels of the feet through out, and glutes squeezed at top.
3. Slowly lower hips, without touching the ground. Keep abs tight through out the exercise.

The intensity of the circuits elevate the heart rate to about 140 during the weight lifting exercises. Keeping this sustained heart rate with cardio exercise mixed in puts extra stress on the cardiovascular system and gives the body a high energy output, sometimes double a normal training session. The circuit training results in a great combination of cardio and strength training, which results in increased fat burning for the body.

Circuit Training Machines

Usually there is no circuit training machines needed for simple exercises. You can do them with the help of any furniture at home. You can create your own exercises available at your house such as chairs, tables or swings and monkey bars which children use to play. There are some special circuit training machines that make your work easy. If you afford to buy them, it is a one time exercise that will help you perform your workouts easier and without stress.

Circuit training is performed for increasing the body resistance with resistance training and aerobics that is aimed at fat loss and muscle building. You have to perform a range of circuit training with the help of circuit training machines. There are some all in one circuit training machines that gives you to benefits of many machines in a single place. You can install this type of machine in a limited space. They are relatively inexpensive and are easier to store at your home. The circuit training machines that could be used at home are skipping rope, dumbbells, physio balls, and weight training machines. They do not occupy much space and could be stored even in cupboards. They give you fantastic workouts.

Treadmill and stationary bikes are some of the circuit training machines that are very helpful in establishing a home gym. You can do cardio exercises and strengthening workouts that are good for your hearts. They are just perfect to tone your body and reduce your calories by burning them. They are portable too. The most sought after circuit training machines are dumbbells. You can do magic with just a set of dumbbells at home. They are essential for biceps and triceps. You can keep the dumbbells at any corner of your house and take them when needed.

If you are looking for even simpler circuit training machines, then you need medicine balls. These medicine balls work your waist as you pass it along to others. If you have these simple circuit training machines at home, then you need not travel to gym. You can include such exercises as squats, jogging, swimming, cycling, sprints, lunges, etc.

Some of the circuit training machines like hydraulic equipments are quite expensive. However, you must understand that this is one time investment. You get great benefits for many generations by investing once. You could workout in these circuit training machines to get correct shape and structure to your body.

More Circuit Training Machines Articles

Functional Circuit Training

A lot of our philosophy is movement based. Meaning we want to clean up movement problems and make sure that people are healthy and injury free (especially athletes). While I don’t really know what “functional training” is-mostly because it has been misinterpreted, extrapolated, and tweaked until it comes out completely different-the idea of movement based circuits is a progression in our system.

Basic cardio and intervals have their place, and I’ve talked at length about interval training in a number of posts. But what functional circuits get at is adding volume in the form of multi-planar movement while still getting the cardiovascular effects.

That being said, I tend to err on the side of too little volume rather than too much with regards to training. Based on Hans Selye’s epic work The Stress of Life, you can see that too much volume (a la overtraining) results in NO IMPROVEMENT (or no adaptation) where as under training just SLOWS PROGRESS.

Exercise isn’t a dose response effect like drugs.

If you take a sleeping pill and you need 10mg to get the effect, nothing will happen if you take 5mg. In exercise, you will still make some slowed progress even if it is “shy” of optimal.

On the flip side, if you take 20mg of said sleeping drug you will pass out before you swallow. In exercise, you will quit making progress because you’ve presented too much of a challenge for the body to adequately recover. While it’s true the body can handle a substantial amount of stress (I have faith in human resolve), there are other stressors in life-work, kids, money, wife/husband, etc-that essentially “fill up” your stress cup.

Everybody has a limited cup size, and everything mentioned as stressors are faucets pouring into that cup. Adding too much inappropriate workout stress to the equation is going to destroy the ability of your recovery.

While I’ve completely gone off on a tangent, let’s focus on the principle of functional circuits. Since they are movement based we are going to be using bodyweight and light/moderately heavy equipment for them. This allows us to add volume without adding nearly as much stress as a typical resistance training workout. But don’t confuse less stress as easy, because the ultimate goal here is to tax the cardiovascular system by using the entire muscular system in a variety of movements done back-to-back with little to no rest.

Although stress is seemingly intangible, it is absolutely something that can be felt and experienced. Everything tightens up, recovery is sub-par and strength will decline. The functional circuits are an attempt at a more metabolic component than inducing heavy muscle tension. The approach too is density training-an important component for body composition training.

Mimi, Nico, & Rico doing circuit training on 6July09. Circuit consisted of 3 rounds of (each 1 minute long, w/ 30 second rest): -dumbell shoulder press (on ply-ball) -box jumps -kettlebell swings -C2 rower -pull ups, continuous (jumping pull ups, if needed) -russian twists w/ 45 lbs bar (over head)

« Previous Page — Next Page »