Circuit workouts are an excellent way to improve your overall fitness, strength, stamina, speed and agility. As the name suggests it is done by performing several differnet exercises one after the other. Each exercise is usually performed between 30 and 60 seconds before moving onto the next exercise. In between exercises a break may be needed of up to 30 seconds depending on the intensity of the workout and the fitness level of the person performing the workout.
Another way to do it is to perform each exercise for a certain amount of repetitions before moving onto the next exercise. Once you have completed your circuit it is important to rest for a few minutes before moving onto another circuit or the same circuit again. In between circuits I like to do active recovery which helps to keep me loose. This can be walking around or a little jog on the spot for 10-15 seconds. The total number of circuits performed during a training session will obviously vary depending on your level of fitness. It is important to plan your circuit well and have a log of all the exercises you would like to do in order. That way if you forget what is next you can quickly look down and figure out what you have do.
A circuit is most effective if you incorporate exercises that work on different parts of the body. It is important to alternate which body part you work on within your circuit. So you might do A total-body exercise (eg.burpee) followed by a lower body exercise (eg. squat), then an upper-body exercise (eg. push ups), followed by a core exercise (eg. v-sit ups) and finish off with a cardio type exercise (eg. skipping). It is very important to conduct a warm up at the start of the workout and stretch at the end.
Other benefits of circuit training are that it develops strength and endurance, it is a great form of strength and conditioning for most sports, it can be modified to suit age, fitness and health of the athlete perofming the exercises, you can include many different types of exercises in one workout, it can save time if you are very busy and you can always make it more intense by cutting rest times down which may help you lose body fat and tone up.
