Why Circuit Training?Why 2 -3 times a week of circuit training can significantly improve your quality of life.
Circuit training, or some form of it, has been around since the late 50’s. Recently (the last 10 years) we have seen a boom in the choice of circuit training over other methods of achieving fitness. The question is why is this becoming an attractive alternative to todays workout enthusiast?
The easy answer is the time saved in combining both a resistance and cardio workout into one easy time saving package, but it goes much deeper than that. Some of the many benefits include improved health functions (such as heart, cardiovascular, range of motion, cholesterol levels, and more), improved fitness levels, more endurance, muscle toning, plus internal improvements such as confidence building and better self image.
Recent studies have concluded you can achieve strong benefits from as low as one to two sessions of circuit training each week (3 times per week is the average sessions per week recommended), depending on the make up and time of the sessions.
Circuit training in a basic format is the compilation of cardio and resistance training exercises put together in an order of succession alternating between the two. There are no long periods of rest between exercises and each strength movement is usually separated through upper and lower body movements to achieve a full body workout benefit to the user, without overtaxing one area or the other. A typical circuit will usually have 3-4 lower body movements and 4-6 upper body movements.
To achieve the maximum benefit from your training sessions there are many factors to take into account.
They include:
►The number of machines you are incorporating into your session and the quality of the machines in targeting your areas to be trained.
►The designated time for performing each movement on machine or cardio. Typical time is 30 to 60 seconds.
►The amount of times you are going to complete the circuit. Am I going to do each machine and cardio station 1, 2 or 3 times?
►Intensity level of performed movements. Two ways to alter the intensity are increased resistance or increased speed of the movement. Increased speed is a tricky variable because as you increase speed you must make sure you are in control of the machine and not losing form to achieve speed. When we break form (often referred to as cheating) we often lose contact with the actual muscle being worked and put ourselves in a vulnerable state for increase incident of the possibility of injury.
For this reason altering the resistance level becomes the best alternative after we have maximized our speed. The repetitions will fall but the benefits will increase as we use strict form with heavier resistance.
►How often we allow for rest while doing the circuit, Some people rest between intervals, others continue and never rest. Use common sense to determine your need for rest. If you are new don’t overtax yourself and allow for some rest time, as you develop more endurance begin to eliminate some of your rest time or all of it if this is your goal. Of course the less you rest the more efficient your time becomes if that’s an issue.
►The more varied your workout the more it will benefit you. In other words, try to find a circuit with enough variation of machines to insure a full body work targeting multiple areas of the same muscle. This will help insure a greater benefit to the workout.
What are the main benefits of circuit training?
Increased endurance, Heart Health, wider range of motion, muscle toning, fat burning, body sculpting, increased self esteem, lower cholesterol levels, are only a few of the many befits being shown time after time in study after study.
The sweetest benefit though may be that people who participate in circuit training receive the “Maximum results in the minimum time”.
Before starting any exercise program it is a good idea to always check your with your doctor.
