Circuit Training: A Shortcut to Fitness?

I completed an upper body circuit workout tonight. I really enjoy circuit training (which I’ll refer to throughout this blog as CT) because it makes the time go by faster, it’s usually a quicker workout in general, and it keeps things interesting!

CT is a high intensity workout, which means you’re burning more body fat – and don’t I love that! You are working so many different muscles with high reps and only get a little amount of time for recovery. CT is great for people looking to get active and powerful!

CT even helps with building muscle and developing strength and endurance! It will help you get leaner and muscular.

You even have the choice to perform CT in the comfort of your own home or in the gym. You can perform it with just your bodyweight or you can choose to use dumbbells, machines, resistance bands, barbells, plyometrics, aerobics, Swiss balls, medicine balls, etc. You could even combine these, too – dumbbells & machines or dumbbells & bands, etc. There’s LOTS you can do!

What I love about CT is that it’s good for ANYONE at ANY age! Of course you just have to tailor it to your own needs and goals.

CT offers variety and it’s a good change to what your normal routine usually consists of. Remember: shocking your body helps in staying away from reaching a plateau.

CT doesn’t have to be only for upper body either. It can be for the lower body, total body, or even just specific parts of the body – abs, biceps and back, chest and triceps, shoulders, etc.

Here’s an example of a total body workout that you could try: 

Squats – 3 sets of 20

Seated Row – 3 sets of 20 (can perform these with bands – just connect the bands to something sturdy and sit on the floor and perform the row exercise)

Pushups – 3 sets of 15-20 (really concentrate on using your chest muscles and if you can’t do a regular pushup start out by doing the girl pushup)

Dumbbell Shoulder Press – 3 sets of 20

Band Curl or Dumbbell Curl – 3 sets of 20

Overhead Tricep Extension – 3 sets of 20

Plank – 3 sets of 1 minute holds

I love CT so much that recently my sister came to me asking to develop a workout for her to get her back into shape. I want my friends and family (and everyone for that matter) feeling good about themselves so I immediately jumped at the opportunity to help her out. I developed a 3-day full body workout for her to start out with, and what I wrote above is actually part of her workout.

Do you already do circuit training? What do you love about it?