When you have limited time to dedicate to advancing your fitness level, circuit training allows you to get an awesome cardiovascular boost while also gaining strength. It’s scientifically proven1 to be an efficient and effective method of improving your overall fitness level—which is why it’s the framework for many popular group and boutique fitness classes. You can either perform a certain number of repetitions of each move in the circuit or do them for a proscribed amount of time. For example, your program circuit could include 20 wide-legged goblet squats as one exercise or it could, for example, include two minutes of wide-legged goblet squats with pushups. Another way to look at that is to say that the workout is both aerobic (meaning that you are using oxygen, which happens when you run or spin at a moderate pace) and anaerobic (meaning that you aren’t using oxygen but are instead relying on glycogen, which happens when you lift weights or sprint). The result is that you are building strength and burning a lot of calories (or expend a high amount of energy) during your workout—plus you also earn major dividends through the so-called afterburn effect. If you’ve heard someone talk about why high-intensity interval training (HIIT) is so much more effective for weight loss than steady-state cardio, they’re most likely referring to the afterburn effect—the increase in your metabolism for roughly 38 hours or more after you complete your workout. The actual term for afterburn is EPOC, or excess post-exercise oxygen consumption, and it refers to the work your body has to do to return to its normal state after being challenged so intensely. If you’re curious about the differences between circuit training and HIIT, read here. The circuit should progress from upper body to lower body and include a core-focused movement and a full-body exercise (like a burpee with pushup). One circuit can include anywhere from four to 10 exercises—six to eight is pretty standard—and the total circuit can be repeated two to three times, depending on how much time you have for your workout. For example, your circuit could look something like this: 15 reps each of shoulder presses, triceps extensions, bent-over wide-grip rows, mountain climbers, sumo squats, and jump lunges. Rest and repeat. With that circuit, you’ve targeted shoulders, arms, back, core, glutes, and thighs and simultaneously raised heart rate. Make sure your rests between sets do not exceed about 30 seconds. If you are working out at a gym with lots of equipment, it’s a great idea to make use of it and mix in body-weight exercises, too. While circuit-training has enormous benefits, to gain muscle mass and really reshape your body, a more effective approach is to follow a body-part split, in which you are focusing on one two muscle groups per exercise session and then allowing those body parts to rest and recover for an adequate amount of time. For my own workouts, I prefer following a body-part split and then having days on which I’ll go on a long run at a moderate pace or do intervals on the stair mill.
