Circuit training is a system of exercise that has you move from one exercise to the next in rapid succession. This type of workout provides a variety of benefits, including improving your cardiorespiratory system and muscular endurance. It can also help you lose weight, depending on how long you keep your circuit going and the intensity level you maintain.
Fat-Burning
You burn more fat, as a percentage of the calories you burn, by working at a slower pace. You will burn more calories overall, however, working at a higher pace. For example, a fat-burning workout, like a brisk walk, will burn as much as 85 percent calories from fat and 5 percent glycogen. Anaerobic training burns as little as 15 percent calories from fat and 85 percent calories from glycogen. Because anaerobic exercise burns so many more calories per minute than fat-burning exercise, you will burn more total fat calories with sprint training over the same time period. Sprint training may fatigue you to failure more quickly than other types of exercise, so exercising at an aerobic pace may be your best choice for efficient fat burning.
Muscle Building
The more weight you lift or resistance you use, the more muscle damage you cause. The more damage you cause, the larger your muscles will grow after they repair themselves. The weight or resistance loads for maximum muscle building are not appropriate for circuit training, because a circuit training workout requires a faster, continuous pace. This is especially important if you want burn more calories. You should only use 40 to 70 percent of the maximum weight you can lift or resistance setting on a machine for a circuit training workout, according to the American Council on Exercise.
Muscle Circuit
A common circuit training routine uses dumbbells to perform a variety of exercise to promote muscular endurance, which is your ability to use your muscles over a time period. Depending on how much weight you use, you will also build some muscle. A typical circuit would include eight to 12 repetitions of one exercise, depending on how much weight you're using, with a one-minute rest between sets. Typical dumbbell exercises for a circuit include biceps curls, flyes, triceps extensions and kickbacks, rows, chest presses, squats, lunges and deadlifts. You can also build and train your muscles using bodyweight exercises, such as push-ups, pull-ups, chin-ups, dips, sit-ups, crunches, lunges and squats.
Aerobic Circuit
Performing an aerobic workout on one piece of exercise equipment limits the muscles you work, especially if you use a machine with a limited, repetitive movement, such as a treadmill, elliptical or exercise bike. You can build more muscle by cross training during an aerobic workout, moving from machine to machine and adding other exercises that keep your heart rate at 70 to 80 percent of your maximum heart rate. Warm up on a treadmill. Move to a rowing machine for a more full body workout for 10 minutes. Jump rope for five minutes. Get on an exercise bike and pedal sitting and standing. Perform resistance band or dumbbell exercises for 10 minutes. Use an elliptical. Use an ab wheel for several minutes. Cool down on the treadmill to finish your circuit.
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