Workouts needn't be the marathon ordeals that many people follow. You can, in fact, improve your fitness by working out for 30 minutes at a time. Circuit training is an intense workout that moves you through various stations with different exercises for a given amount of time. Rest time between exercises is less than in traditional workouts, so you improve your endurance while working on strength and cardiovascular elements of fitness. Thirty-minute circuit training is ideal for people who struggle to find time to work out.
Station Times
While longer circuit-training routines may include as many as 12 stations, select between six and eight exercises for a 30-minute circuit. If you select six exercises, spend 45 seconds at each station and rest for 15 seconds between stations. Rest for 1 minute after completing the circuit and repeat until you have completed four circuits in 27 minutes. If you select eight stations, complete three circuits in 26 minutes. Use the remaining time to stretch to prevent injury and improve recovery time.
Be Creative
Be creative when building your circuits. If you work out three times a week, switch between upper-body circuits and lower-body circuits. Or create three different full-body workouts so that you don't get bored. Include at least one core exercise in each circuit, such as crunches, Swiss ball rollouts or planks. Core strength helps prevent injuries and improve overall physical performance. To increase the difficulty of the stations over time, add weight or increase the number of repetitions.
Upper Body Exercise
Upper body exercises target your chest, back, shoulders, biceps and triceps and make use of free weights and bodyweight exercises. Pushups should be part of any routine as they work the chest, shoulders and triceps. Also include bicep curls, shoulder presses, single arm rows, bench dips and lateral raises.
Lower Body Exercises
Lower body exercises target the calves, quads, glutes, and hamstrings, as well as indirectly strengthening the back. Incorporate classic exercises such as squats and lunges, including variations such as one-legged squats, walking lunges and side lunges. Calf raises and hamstring rollouts using the stability ball are also ideal for lower body workouts.
Enhance Your Workout
To add athleticism to a circuit, do jumping jacks and burpees, and jump rope. Switch up your routine by creating an outdoor workout with more cardio-based exercise. Substitute running sprints for stations, for example. As your fitness improves, run between stations for a more intense endurance workout. An enhanced workout might consist of 40-second sets of pushups, curls, squats, lunges, crunches and jumping jacks with a 200-yard jog between each station.
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