Long, slow, boring aerobic exercise may get all the glory in the media,
butyou can get a lot more bang for your fitness buck with circuit training.
In fact, it’s one of the best ways to burn fat and build muscle at the same
time, while getting your workouts done in very little time. So forget about
doing an hour of cardio and then an hour of weights. Instead, do shorter
circuit training or superset workouts followed by interval training.
Research proves circuit training works. Brazilian researchers assigned
subjects to a 12-week program of either cardio or total-body circuit
training. Both groups exercised for 35 minutes three times per week.
At the end of the study, both groups had increased their aerobic fitness by
four percent. In addition, both groups had increased their leg strength by
six percent. However, only the circuit-training group experienced benefits
such as increased their upper-body strength too.
Even if you’re a beginner, your best bet for maximum gains is a total-body
circuit-training program: strength training done with short rest periods
between exercises.
This is especially true if the amount of time you can commit to a workout
program is limited.
Let’s go over what a bodyweight circuit is. You can use a bodyweight
circuit instead of interval training. Not everyone has the time or space to
sprint so this can be a good substitute to burn fat.
We use about 6 exercises, 3 upper body, and 3 lower body exercises and
alternate between the upper body exercises and the lower body exercises.
Beginning with two basic upper and lower body exercises we will go through a
bodyweight circuit. Perform a Y squat for 15 repetitions, and immediately go
into a push up for 15 repetitions. The goal here is to fatigue ourselves,
but the exercises should not leave you sore the next day so go with more
reps at less challenging exercises.
Next do a lunge for 12-15 reps per leg, followed by and decline push up for
15 repetitions. Do 60 jumping jacks and finish with mountain climbers for 15
reps a side. This is a good way to do interval training anywhere anytime.
Keeping in mind that the goal here is not to strain the muscles but to get a
good sweat going. So use circuit training instead of long slow cardio to get
more results in less time.
About the Author
Craig Ballantyne is a Certified Strength & Conditioning Specialist and writes for Men’s Health, Men’s Fitness, Maximum Fitness, Muscle and Fitness Hers, and Oxygen magazines. His trademarked Turbulence Training fat loss workouts have been featured multiple times in Men’s Fitness and Maximum Fitness magazines, and have helped thousands of men and women around the world lose fat, gain muscle, and get lean in less than 45 minutes three times per week. For more information on the Turbulence Training workouts that will help you burn fat without long, slow cardio sessions or fancy equipment, visit www.TurbulenceTraining.com
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