The world of training can be both challenging and confusing, with many people unaware of the many ways that training can be made more effective.
One of the most common ways you can increase your exercise routine to something amazing is by creating a circuit training routine.
Many people end up wondering why they should start a circuit routine when the rest of the gym is available to them.
Circuit training is a fast movement that focuses on training every single muscle in your body, allowing you to easily gain muscle strength and lose fat. The fast movement and extreme training help to ensure that your body is constantly at the edge and being trained properly, with fast results on the time you spend doing circuit training.
There are still many things that you need to know about circuit training, why it is healthier to include in your gym sessions, and why it is always one of the first things that trainers suggest you do.
There are many types of circuit training that you should focus on as well, with some focused on those that are already fit, while others are meant to give more long-term results.
Finding the perfect circuit training routine is all about finding the best possible routine, here’s how you can do that!
What is Circuit training?
Before we begin talking about how circuit training benefits your body and what the training required to have an effective circuit is, you need to know what circuit training is.
This is important to know because every gym will have a different area for circuit training which means the routines available on them will differ greatly.
Circuit training is a combination of training techniques made to have your heart constantly beating, your muscles moving, and everything you have to be pushed to the absolute limit.
Circuit training involves training routines that do not need you to stop and slow down, you will be constantly moving while the timer is active.
This is the most important part; every circuit training facility will have a timer to let you know how long you are training. Most of the time with a beeping sound every minute so that you can count how long you are doing certain exercises, which is the most important part, not getting stuck in a certain type of training for too long.
What are the benefits of circuit training?
The benefits of circuit training are almost immeasurable, with the reasons that many people start circuit training being that they need to rapidly lose weight and start bulking up. There are many long-term benefits that circuit training brings to people, with some of them never being obvious but always being present.
Knowing what the obvious and the less obvious benefits of doing circuit training are will allow you to keep being motivated, motivate others to join you, or even find new ways to improve your circuit routine.
Helps Cardiovascular Health
When you are circuit training your heart will constantly be thumping, the fast movement, strength training, and rapidly changing to other training techniques will cause your respiratory system and muscles to be a lot healthier.
When you start doing this everything will start becoming a lot healthier, like all muscles in the body regular exercise will increase the strength and effectiveness of these muscles.
Training constantly, you will quickly start feeling the increased strength of your cardiovascular system. Many times, after a few weeks of training many people will find themselves able to breathe easier, do training for a lot longer, and can hold their breath for a lot longer than expected.
Promotes Muscle Growth
By constantly training and by training with muscles of your whole body there will be one noticeably clear thing you can feel in your body.
Once your muscles stop constantly being stiff they will start easily outperforming what you are used to. The promotion of muscle growth in your body will start quickly growing once you start doing circuit training every day.
Many of the things you will be doing while circuit training will force your muscles to repeatedly grow and become stronger and stronger. Each session of circuit training will stress most if not all the muscles throughout your body.
Allowing muscles to grow, strengthening your core muscles, and allowing you to enjoy doing more complicated exercises later.
Increases speed of Burning Calories
The main people that will always be doing some type of circuit training will be celebrities that are going to be doing some type of acting or modeling.
This is because you will be burning a lot of calories and energy while doing circuit training, the rapid movement, constant changing of training, and a quick succession of weight training promote calories being burnt.
Some of the most amazing results can be seen in the short-term training of circuits being done properly, with many people easily losing most of their weight when going fully into circuit training.
This means that you can later relax a bit more or eat more normal foods, the burning of calories is the only way you will be able to effectively lose weight.
Combined Types of Training
Unlike most other types of training that require you to switch between different types of training to try and balance everything, circuit training simply combines everything.
By having routines that have both endurance training, like running, steps, and jumps as well as strength training with weights, you are getting a complete workout.
Training every muscle of your body at once will mean that you can experience rapid growth to every muscle in your body. Allowing you to look the best you can look without having to stress about switching to different types of training, requiring less setting up of complicated machines or using the weight machines.
Reduced risks of injury
Circuit training is one of the safer ways to train in the gym, with low impact, and minimal use of heavyweights you can be assured that you will not be damaged.
Most of the things you will be doing during circuit training will also be things you already know how to do. Many circuit training routines will focus on stairs, jumps, or a few other training techniques like lunging that will allow you to safely train.
Some of the best routines in circuit training will involve rapidly switching each minute between training techniques, rather than focusing intensely on one type of training technique.
Some of the best circuits will involve a lot more of the gym that you imagine as well, with some circuits including running machines, and rowing machines.
How long should circuit training last?
There are several circuits that you can adhere to that will easily and quickly train your body to become the best it can be. When you do circuit training you will rely heavily on the timer that dictates how long you should be doing each type of training, which can sometimes last only a fraction of the time you expect.
Most circuit training routines are built to only last around 20 to 30 minutes, ensuring that you only standstill for the few minutes spread in between that has been dedicated to it.
This time is important to adhere to because it will be difficult for even the fittest of people to be able to do more than 30 minutes of constant training when doing circuit training.
Becoming proficient at circuit training does not mean that you do the exercises any faster, or take less time doing them.
Instead, it will simply mean that you will be switching to a new circuit training routine, one that requires you to push your body ever further and harder.
Becoming efficient in a circuit training routine will always mean that you are simply ready to move on to a more extreme circuit.
What are the basics of circuit training?
Like all types of training, there are several basics that you will need to know to easily recognize when circuit training is being done and is available at your gym.
These basics are always the same and if you are training properly you will be able to adapt to the circuit setup available at any gym in the world.
These are the three core points of circuit training and the exercises that will be included in each one of them, always helping to push your body so much further than you ever expected it to go.
Doing Strength Training
This is the part that might not make your lungs and heart feel all that stressed out but should always leave your muscles a little numb afterward.
All of the techniques you can do while circuit training can be done at home and these are no exception to that rule, many people use household items to help in their strength training.
Strength training is important because the other exercises in circuit training will become easier if your muscles are already strong enough to easily overcome them. These are the basic strength exercises you should be including in your circuit training routine
- Dumbell Rows: Using the nearest heavy object that you can comfortably lift, that has a handle you will be able to train all the muscles in your upper body. On two chairs, a low table, or the bench made for this, you will place one knee and hand on the surface. Keeping your back straight you will slowly lift the weight to your chest, making sure that your elbow goes stays close to your body, making a 90-degree bend.
- Bodyweight Squats: With your upper body receiving the training that it needs you will have to move onto the legs and back. These are some of the most important muscles to train but are often overlooked. Squats that are done properly will always easily allow you to gain a lot of strength and increase your overall posture without requiring extra weight or complicated machines.
- Pull-up and Chin-ups: Once you have done a few circuits, usually several weeks’ worth, you will have to add a few things to your strength training. Two of the most important ones will be pull-ups and chin-ups; these will help all the muscles in your body grow rapidly as you train your body to lift its weight easily and comfortably.
- Push-ups and sit-ups: The muscle training that anyone and everyone should always be doing, these two types of exercises will have your body rapidly burning off calories and gaining strength as it is constantly pitted against itself. Some of the most visible changes to your body will take place thanks to these exercises that are capable of stressing every part of your body.
Focused Endurance Exercises
Once you have your strength training worked into the circuit you will need to focus on the part that most people never want to do, endurance. This is what decides not only how much you can lift, but how long you would be able to lift it, including how long you can run, walk, or swim.
Endurance training is almost more important than strength training, with many people forgetting to properly do what is required to build endurance into their circuits.
However, including the basics will allow your body to easily become physically fit, and become capable of running, walking, or swimming for hours.
- Walking lunges: These are simple and if done properly will see you become tired within the first few that you attempt to do in the circuit. Many times, this will increase the overall endurance that you have for other types of training and have your body quickly gain extra stamina.
- Jumping Jacks: Quick, easy, and one of the most exhausting things for any adult to do is jumping jacks. Usually done for only a few minutes when incorporated into circuit jumping jacks will easily allow you to gain stamina and loosen up any muscles you may have that are even slightly stiff.
- Jump Steps: This has to be done where you have steps, in your home or the gym you will only need about four or five steps. By rapidly running up and down these steps you will be training more muscles than can be listed here. Your body will become capable of easily and smoothly realizing just how unfit it is.
Combinations of the two
The last thing that will happen when you are doing a circuit is doing exercises that almost literally do everything at once to your body.
Many times, the only way to truly become fit is to do strength and endurance training all at once, with some of the best training techniques requiring that you constantly give it your all.
There are only a few things in the circuit you can do that will accomplish this, but usually doing these will see your muscles growing stronger, while you are constantly being taken to the edge of your endurance.
- Dips: These are some of the most tiring and muscle intense exercises you will ever be doing while taking part in a circuit. Many times, you will barely be able to complete one when you are still starting, however, as your body grows stronger you will be able to do more and more of this exercise.
- Plank: Many people think that planking is simply an exercise of strength, however, if done properly and with a rigid straight body it will also test your endurance. Many times, people are people who will not be able to even do 30 seconds of planking without completely failing, planking will always be a test of endurance and strength.
- Clapping Push Up: One of the trickier types of exercise you will have to endure during circuit training is the clapping push up. Testing every muscle, and piece of patience you have to complete a series of steps that will leave you almost passed out the first few times. Simply clapping each time, you do a push up not only tests your strength and endurance but the speed at which you can move your arms.
Final Thoughts on What is Circuit Training
Circuit training is one of the best ways to get the body that you most desire, almost always giving you a full-body workout that will leave you breathing harder than you could ever imagine.
Some of the most active people in the world usually fail the first time they try to do a circuit that has been set up for them.
Always remember, even the fittest people on earth had to start somewhere, you might just have the advantage of only being able to improve from where you are!
