Short Circuit (not that kind...)

There are lots of reasons to like circuit training, but the one that seems really compelling to me right now is that it doesn’t require a long attention span.  Done right, there is no time to get bored and in half an hour to 45 minutes, both cardio and weight training are taken care of.  And the next time, the workout can be completely different!

 

So what is this done right I’m talking about?

 

A good circuit includes cardio, upper body, lower body, and abdominal exercises.  Many times, the cardio exercises do double-duty as whole body exercises.  Ideally, after the warm up, we get our heart rate up a couple of times during the circuit and then have a rest period at the end of a round, or we have mini-rests after a few exercises and a longer rest at the end.

 

A short circuit might be six exercises, two cardio or whole body, one or two upper body, one or two lower body, and one ab exercise.  A workout would be three or four cycles through the circuit, depending on time and energy.  Here’s a sample:

 

30 clean and presses (cardio/whole body)

30 squats (lower body)

20 bench press (upper body)

30 mountain climbers (cardio)

20 lunges (lower body)

10 pretty princesses (abs)

 

Notice that the exercises are distributed rather than bunched; cardio does not follow cardio and lower body does not follow lower body.  Also notice that the abs, which involve lying down, happen at the end just before the rest.

 

Try making your own!