﻿ hi I'm Lauren a coach at Nerd Fitness
and today we're going to dive into circuit training
we'll be talking about what it is the benefits of it
and give some specific examples on how to get started
the circuit in circuit training comes from the fact that you do a sequence of
exercises
back to back you then cycle through this circuit of exercises multiple times
for example let's say my circuit has five bodyweight squats
ten jumping jacks and five bent-over dumbbell rows
I would complete the squats the jumping jacks
and then the bent-over rows and then repeat the list of the exercises
a few more times circuit workouts come in all shapes and sizes
but they'll often have a few things in common
first they'll have several different exercises for my example that I just
gave you I only picked three the squats the
jumping jacks the bent-over dumbbell rows
but we could easily be adding more to the list next
there's generally little to no rest in between the exercises
one of the goals of circuit training is to keep your heart rate up
ideally if you're physically able to you go from one
exercise to the next without stopping
maybe you rest briefly after the whole circuit is complete
before starting again and lastly as I've mentioned
the circuit has you repeating the exercises you'll probably
run through the circuit of exercises a few times
three rounds to five rounds of exercises is common
but you could do more or less depending on your experience level
to understand the benefits of circuit training we need to talk about two
different ideas aerobic and anaerobic exercise
aerobic means needing oxygen in aerobic exercise your heart rate
increases to pump blood and get oxygen to where your body needs it
this allows you to perform the exercise for an extended period of time
you'll often hear this as cardio running biking jumping jacks these are
all great examples of aerobic exercise on the flip side we
have anaerobic exercise anaerobic means without oxygen in
anaerobic exercise the body relies on glucose for power
these exercises will be shorter in length and higher in
intensity think of challenging body weight exercises or heavy weight
training exercises as examples of this the great benefit of
circuit training is that you'll be working
both aerobic and anaerobic capabilities back to our first example you would work
rows and squats but these are not exercises that you would be able to do
indefinitely so think of them as working
anaerobically you'd perform several reps and then rest
those specific muscles as you move on to the next
exercise but throughout the circuit you'll be going for an extended period
of time this will increase your aerobic capacity
that's the main benefit of circuit training improving your overall
conditioning while also getting stronger plus
since you're moving so quickly through the exercises it often requires a
shorter time commitment than other workouts
the great thing here is that you can put all sorts of exercises into a circuit
an easy framework is to think about rotating between upper
and lower body exercises throughout the list
that way when half the body is exhausted we can give it a rest
while we're working the other half of the body let's go through
a few more ideas if you're working out at home you can go through various body
weight exercises with little to no equipment at all things
like lunges push-ups and squats
check the link in the description for our Beginner Bodyweight Workout for such
an example or let's say you do have access to a gym
you can perform a circuit with just a few
pieces of equipment you could start with 10 barbell squats
and then you could use the chin-up bar in the rack for five chin-ups
maybe there's a dumbbell next to the rack and you could do
10 dumbbell rows on each arm then you could step out of the squat rack
and do 10 push-ups that's a nice quick circuit and in a small space it's easy
to move from one exercise to the next if you are putting together a circuit at
the gym please be sure to be respectful to other
members if you're using a lot of equipment or
you're running from one space to another this can be very disruptive so it's best
to keep things simple in a smaller overall space
here's another idea do you have a kettlebell or a dumbbell at home
you could use just that one piece of equipment for an overall circuit
you could do 10 goblet squats 10 overhead presses 10 swings and
10 bent-over rows this is a great circuit that rotates between lower and
upper body and it's going to hit all the major muscle groups
first off HIIT stands for high-intensity interval training
with this type of training you're looking to complete a short period or
interval of high-intensity work followed by a short period of less
intense work or a complete rest this short rest
allows just enough recovery that we can step
into the next interval and really push hard
circuit training while still working hard with little rest
through the various exercises doesn't necessarily have to have that structured
work and rest period HIIT training is usually done with one activity
usually a cardio exercise that you can push
through really hard for several rounds so one may sprint or bike hard for an
extended period of time and then go light or completely rest
and then repeat that several times a classic
interval workout is the Tabata Workout named after Japanese researcher and
physician IzumI Tabata with this Tabata protocol
you'll work really hard for 20 seconds and then
rest for 10 seconds you'll complete that cycle for eight rounds total a little
under four minutes for the entire workout
it may sound simple but when you're pushing really hard it's not that easy
is circuit training a good way to lose weight it can be
however as we say throughout Nerd Fitness ninety percent of getting in
shape comes down to nutrition losing weight often comes about with a
combination of exercise and healthy eating it's hard to do with
just exercise alone
a circuit workout is a great choice when you're first starting out
it will strengthen your muscles and improve your conditioning
in a short period of time and there you have it remember
circuit training is about doing several different exercises
with enough variety to hit the whole body
alternating between upper and lower body exercises
is a really great structure you'll also want to go through this list of
exercises with little to no rest lastly you'll repeat this sequence
generally around three to five times if you want to get
started i'll leave you some more of my favorite circuits in the description
below that's it for now take care
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