Circuit Training - What Is It?

By Richard Black

So you have decided that it is time to start going to the
gym regularly. You are ready to start working out, but where
do you begin?

Perhaps you want to try bicep curls first because you are
curious about how strong your biceps are. Or maybe you want
to do a leg press because your arms are tired from working
all day and you want to give them a rest before you start
those exercises. Maybe, rather than all of those, you want
to try a treadmill for a half hour first to burn away some
of the calories that you gained from that cheeseburger you
ate on the way over.

When you start working out, these questions may go through
your mind every time you open the gym doors. But this
uncertainty can lead to inefficient workouts, skipping
exercises, and failing to achieve the results you want
because you went in a poor order on one particular day.

To solve this, many trainers teach what is known as "circuit
training." Circuit training is a pre-specified exercise
routine that involves moving from exercise to exercise in a
specific order over a specific amount of time (as as though
you are moving through a circuit).

Circuit Training Techniques

Circuit training gives you significantly less time to rest,
and often involves working out at such an extreme pace that
many people receive an aerobic exercise even though they are
not technically doing any aerobic training methods. However,
just because they give you less time to rest does not mean
that circuit training is only for in shape, experienced
bodybuilders.

On the contrary, circuit training requires significantly
less repetitions (which are generally required with
standardized weight lifting), where you are trading excess
work (lifting with repetitions) for faster work (no
repetitions, faster moving through the workout). Because
there is less resting, many people experience some
impressive results as though they had rested and completed a
repetition.

Benefits of Circuit Training

There are two well known benefits for circuit training:

1) Time

Because you are quickly moving through every workout, you
save a great deal of time overall. If you are often on a
particularly busy schedule, this time saved can be
substantial, and you can cut your time at the gym down
significantly.

2) Efficiency - By rushing from exercise to
exercise in a specific order, you are not wasting any time
allowing your muscles to relax or harden up. Instead, you
are making sure that they are constantly being worked out as
you move from machine to machine, tiring them more and more
in the process.

Circuit training does require a less crowded gym (so that
you can get each machine when you need it), a lot of
planning, and a commitment to moving to the next workout
right away no matter how exhausted you are. But for those
that are on a busy schedule or want to see more results in
shorter time, circuit training is one of the best workout
courses you can put yourself through.