Want to shake things up a little bit in your workouts?  Circuit training is one way to do that.  It works on defining and toning muscles while improving cardiovascular endurance.

What is Circuit Training?

There are variations to circuit training based on your goals, but essentially it entails performing a number of exercises in a sequence with little rest in between.  For example, if your gym has a bunch of fancy machines, you can use those to do a circuit workout by performing 10-25 repetitions on each machine at low-medium resistance, resting for 15-30 seconds, and then moving on to the next machine.  Do the circuit 1-4 times, depending on how much time you have available and on how you are feeling.

Key tips for circuit training include:

• keep you heart rate up by moving quickly, limiting rest or performing light aerobic exercises in between resistance exercises.
• ideal for exercising all major muscle groups using 6-10 different exercise stations.
• perform exercises you are familiar with instead of new ones so you can move quickly through stations and maintain heart rate elevated.
• if using dumbbells or other equipment, organize them in areas for smooth flow from one station to another.

Simple Circuit

Here is a simple plan for a circuit you can adapt for the gym or at home, with or without equipment:

Print a PDF version of this Simple Circuit Training Plan so you can take it with you to the gym.

What Do you Think?

If you give this plan a try, let us know what you think of it.  Send us an email, share your views in the comments, or better yet post on Instagram a picture of yourself performing the circuit.  Be sure to tag us @aspireperspirenourish.

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