The Benefits of Circuit Training

Circuit training has been unjustly dismissed by many fitness professionals. In fact, when I started personal training I was told to place members through a circuit workout on “simple to use” machines if they were not likely to be personal training prospects. Ever since then, circuit training has stuck with me, and with many other personal trainers, as a “throw away“training modality.

Circuit training program can be easy to design. However, this fact should not devalue its benefits. Circuit training is an excellent modality to train muscular endurance. When performing circuit training routine for endurance, the goal should be elevating the heart rate. In other words, you should be breathing hard after completing a set of circuit exercises. Each exercise should be challenging. You should be working at about 80% of your capacity for about 15 repetitions on each exercise. Once again, the goal of circuit training is to increase muscular and cardiovascular endurance, not to stimulate muscle growth. Therefore, if an exercise can not be performed for 15 repetitions, the resistance should be reduced on the next round. It also important that exercises should work different muscles groups or different planes of motions. Performing two exercises for the same muscle group, one after another, may fatigue a muscle group. This effect would be desired if the goal was muscle growth. However, the goal of circuit training is muscular endurance, and hence, the ability to perform a set of exercises without stopping.

When designing a circuit training program I would often select 4-5 exercises that were to be performed one immediately after another. I found it to be effective when I start with an exercise that is rather complex, one that moves through several joints, involving several muscle groups. For the last exercise I often choose one that is simple, involving only small muscle groups.

The following is a good example of a small circuit set:
Lunges
Standing dumbbell shoulder abduction
Standing leaning dumbbell rows
Biceps dumbbell curls

In addition to being an excellent stand alone exercise modality, circuit training can be mixed with other exercise modalities. For example, on days that I perform 2-3 heavy lifts for legs (i.e. dead lifts, squats) I often add one circuit to the routine. For instance, I perform 4 sets of dead lifts. After a rest period I perform one circuit. I then wait until my heart rate returns to its resting state and move to 4 sets of heavy squats.

Ralph Klisiewicz, is a certified personal trainer and a certified muscle activation technique specialist working in Chicago area. He has been working in the wellness/fitness industry for over 6 years. His fitness specialization is in human mechanics, as he often works with people who suffer from pain and joint imbalances. He writes on the topic of fitness extensively. Personal Trainer | Chicago