Circuit training has increasingly grown in popularity in recent years, primarily the method of choice for boot camps. This is mostly due to the practicality of dividing a mass of people into small groups and seamlessly moving them from one exercise station to other, on an easily tracked time schedule. Circuit training. However cannot and should not, be limited to only group fitness, creating a small workstation of a few exercises and proceeding to work through said exercises, at one’s own schedule, is a tremendously effective way of one implementing a routine that is time effective, increases the heart rate, provides sufficient stimulus to the muscles and is a satisfying release from the often mundane traditional training routines.

Circuit training can be defined as a selection of exercises, involving various different muscle groups, incorporating a single or many fitness goals, whether that be muscular endurance, strength or cardiovascular adaptations, that are then routinely worked through, from one exercise onto the other at a set work to rest ratio, for a number of rounds.

TYPES OF CIRCUITS

Muscular strength-

Strength is the ability to exert force. Traditional strength training protocols require near maximal forces for reps between 1-5, followed by rest periods of at least 3 minutes. This format is not very practical for circuit training for many reasons, instead, strength circuits are better suited to rep ranges of 5-8, for a load of roughly 75% 1RM. Due to the limited rest between exercises and rounds, it is preferred exercises that precede and follow one another, use opposing muscle groups.

Muscular endurance-

Requires less load and higher volume as opposed to muscular strength circuits. To train specifically muscular endurance, loads of lower than 75% of a 1RM, for repetitions of at least 15 or a time period of at least 45 seconds, is required.

Cardiovascular-

the goal of cardiovascular circuits is to elevate the heart rate through a combination of compound movements, low and high impact movements and movements involving rapid changes in body position, for a consistent period of time. As opposed to the standard rep and set schemes of more standard training protocols, that workout is structured with work to rest ratios. For circuit training, work to rest ratios of 1:1 and 2:1 work best. Working and resting in whole or half minutes, makes time keeping much easier to keep track of.

TIPS FOR CREATING CIRCUITS

• Choose a limited number of pieces of equipment. A single weighted utensil, whether that be a kettlebell, dumbbell, barbell or other, is preferred, this entirely depends on the equipment available to you, how much space you have to work with and lastly changing between utensils can be time intensive.

• Choose exercises which are compound movements and choose a variety of muscle groups.

• Preferably exercises should be ordered from either lower to the upper body, or the inverse. Movements should also be ordered so the previous exercise doesn’t fatigue the following.

• Work to rest ratios of 1:1 and 2:1, using whole or half minutes, works best. 40 seconds work and 20 seconds rest, work too, basically any composition that adds up to an easily tracked number.

• Between 4-10 exercises is preferable. 4 being enough exercises to cover the main muscle groups of the body and over 10 exercises being the extent to which, tracking exercises, setting up stations and providing equipment becomes difficult.

EXAMPLE WORKOUTS

Dumbbell

2-3 rounds of 5-8 reps, 30 seconds rest @ 75% 1RM, 1-minute rest between rounds.

Time to complete: 14-21 minutes

1. Deadlift
2. Thrusters
3. Renegade row
4. Floor press
5. Goblet squat
6. Romanian deadlift

Barbell

3-5 rounds of 5-8 reps, 30 seconds rest @ 75% 1RM, 1-minute rest between rounds.

Time to complete: 14-24 minutes

1. Front squat
2. Overhead press
3. Barbell row
4. Bench press

Kettlebell

2-3 rounds of 12-15 reps, 30 seconds rest @ <75% 1RM, 1-minute rest between rounds.

Time to complete: 20.5-31 minutes

1. KB Front squat
2. KB Overhead press
3. KB Alternating upright row
4. Single KB Swing
5. KB Bent over row
6. KB push ups
7. KB Russain twist
8. KB alternating Turkish get-ups

Medicine ball

2-3 rounds of 30 seconds, 30 seconds rest, 1-minute rest between rounds.

Time to complete: 21-32 minutes

1. Medicine ball Thruster
2. Medicine ball Zercher squat
3. Medicine ball side to side hurdles
4. Medicine ball overhead lunges
5. Medicine ball alternating plyometric push-up
6. Medicine ball slams
7. Medicine ball overhead throws
8. Medicine ball chest throws
9. Medicine ball standing wood chop
10. Medicine ball sit-ups

Bodyweight

3-5 rounds of 1 minute, 30 seconds rest

Time to complete: 27-45 minutes

1. lunges
2. squat jumps
3. Pull-ups
4. Diamond push-ups
5. Mountain climbers
6. Brazilian crunches

Standard

3-5 rounds of 1 minute, 30 seconds rest

Time to complete: 27-45 minutes

1. Split jump or jump squats
2. Push-up variant
3. Inverted row variant
4. DB Stationary lunges
5. Plank
6. Side Plank, split time between each side

Sets

No rest between exercise, 15 seconds rest between rounds, 30 seconds rest between sets. Choose an appropriate weight to complete all rep requirements.

Time to complete: 22 minutes

Set 1
3 rounds of.
A1. DB front squat, for 10 reps
A2. DB Romanian deadlift, for 10 reps
A3. DB swing, for 10 reps

Set 2
3 rounds of.
B1. Wide pronated grip pull-up, for 10 reps
B2. Barbell bench press for, for 10 reps
B3. Barbell row, for 10 reps

Set 3
3 rounds of.
C1. Plate wood chop, for 20 reps
C2. Plate sit-up, for 10 reps
C3. Plank, for 1 minute

Sets 2

No rest between exercise, 15 seconds rest between rounds, 30 seconds rest between sets. Choose an appropriate weight to complete all rep requirements.

Time to complete: 35 minutes

Set 1
3 rounds of 10 reps.
A1. Jumping jacks
A2. DB Goblet squats
A3. Single leg DB Romanian deadlift

Set 2
3 rounds of 10 reps.
B1. Jumping jacks
B2. DB Floor press
B3. DB push ups

Set 3
3 rounds of 10 reps.
C1. Jumping jacks
C2. Inverted row
C3. Renegade row

Set 4
3 rounds of 10 reps.
D1. Jumping jacks
D2. Overhead press
D3. Upright row

Set 5
3 rounds of 10 reps.
E1. Jumping jacks
E2. BB Bicep curl
E3. BB skull crushers

Conditioning

30 seconds work, 30 seconds rest, 5 rounds of each exercise. Only move on to the following exercise once all 5 rounds are completed for that exercise. 1-minute rest/changeover time, in-between exercises

Time to complete: 27.5 minutes

A. Rower
B. Battle Ropes
C. Exercise bike
D. Burpees
E. Medicine ball sit-up into Russian twist