Circuit Training: Achieving Two Fitness Goals with One Workout

Exercise is meant to help us achieve a level of fitness that keeps our bodies working properly for a long time. But, the question most of us have is, “What is the best way to do that?” Most of us have busy lives and need an effective workout in as short a time as possible.

Welcome to Circuit Training 101

Circuit training is the combination of aerobics and strength training that works the entire body in half the time of either type of traditional workout alone. It is working smarter and not harder.

Most people are skeptical about anything that says what you are used to doing can take less time than it ever did before. At one time, the professionals said that working out longer increased your fitness level. If you didn’t reach a certain time limit then you were wasting your time.

Day in and day out, fitness experts prove that this is not necessarily the only truth. Your workout can take less time if you do it right and still be very, and in some cases more, effective. That is where circuit training comes in.

Think about it this way: If you were to run from your back door to your front door, you could do it quickly. If you had to run from your back door out the front door and across a field, you’d run a bit slower to pace yourself. The reason for exercising longer is to get your heart rate up and keep it up in the 70 to 80 percentile for your age so that you are working in a fat burning zone.

With circuit training, you are working fast during each interval. Your heart rate gets up and stays up throughout the circuit program. If it is thirty minutes, then for thirty minutes you are working in your target zone. With aerobics alone, you may only achieve that for fifteen of the thirty minutes you work out.

Circuit training alternates a strength training exercise with a cardio minute. You can time yourself during the strength training phase or just perform a certain number of repetitions. During the aerobic phase, you time yourself for 60 seconds. As you get stronger, you can lengthen the aerobic phase.

With this method of exercising, there is little to no rest between exercises. Your cardio minute rests the muscles and the strength training rests your heart. In twenty to thirty minutes, you can have a refreshing workout that works all areas of your body.

If you have a limited amount of time, which many of us do, work on the upper body in circuit training one day and the lower body the next. What you want to be careful to avoid is weight training the same body part two days in a row. The muscle tissue needs time to repair and rebuild in order to reach its peak health and avoid injury.

Circuit training combines aerobics and weights for a better body in less time. For busy people, it is a great workout method that can fit into your lifestyle and get you fit at the same time.

------------
Circuit Training - Unlimited Benefits was the last article on circuit training. However, do a search at the blog and you will find several more articles on the subject.