Circuit Training

Instead of going to the gym and throwing around some heavy weights 12 lb dumbbells, I've really been into doing circuits the past couple months. Circuit training is a combination of high-intensity bursts of cardio with resistance training and is a great way to burn fat and tone up muscle. I also tend to get bored after about 15 min of just lifting so I like the fast pace effort of circuits along with keeping my heart rate up from the bursts of cardio. As I've mentioned before, I group train a local fire department and circuits are perfect for them. I have everyone start on a different station and can modify each exercise as I see fit. After 30 seconds at each station, they move on to the next.

Here's one of the circuits I did last week after a workout on the elliptical. Start with Circuit 1 and go through each exercise for 30 sec with no rest in between exercises. After you're finished with the first set, take 30 sec to rest and repeat. Once you've gone through Circuit 1 three times, take 1-2 min of rest and move onto Circuit 2.

Circuit 1: 3 x 30 sec

• Walking lunges with bicep curl
• Chest press on stability ball
• Reverse flys
• Jump rope

Circuit 2: 3 x 30 sec

• Squat with row (on cable crossover machine)
• Overhead press
• Triceps push ups (these are killer!)
• Mountain climbers

Circuit 3: 3 x 30 sec

• Squat swing with kettlebell
• Hamstring curl with stability ball
• Plank
• Squat jumps

Try it & let me know what you think!