Circuit Training

WalkingGirl1985

I'm never done this before and I was told it will help me gain more strength as I go...what are some circuit training exercises you do..at least for beginners? I just need some ideas. I like to do lunges..squats...jumping jacks and a few more thats easy.

SaraTN

Do you have access to a gym or will you be doing exercises at home? If at home, what equipment do you have available to you? Free weights? a bench? bands? pull-up bar?

WalkingGirl1985

All i have is wrist weights..and I will be doing this at home.

princesslmc2

I have started the ChaLEAN Extreme program and am in the 2nd month of the circuit training. I am seeing amazing results so far. Definitely building up some great muscle in my arms and legs, which was all flab before! And the muscle definitely is supposed to help burn more calories. So far... this program has been my favorite!

If you order through beachbody.com, it'll cost $119.00. However, I got mine off off Craigslist.com and only paid $60.

bxrlvr_75

This site might be a good reference for you. It will help you target all the muscle groups.

http://www.exrx.net/Lists/Directory.html

briteyes

The Jillian Michael's workout videos are all about circuit training. usually you only need some light handweights (3 - 5 lbs) and a mat if you have hard floor.

SaraTN

This site might be a good reference for you. It will help you target all the muscle groups.

http://www.exrx.net/Lists/Directory.html

I LOVE that site for so many reasons - I discovered it while doing some research for my PT certification and seem to visit it daily!

sarahwright01

Get an exercise ball too! It really makes a difference on what you can do.

1. Hamstring Curl
Laying on your back on the floor, place your feet on the ball. (Ball should be right about at your ankles). Lift your pevis off of the floor, and roll the ball towards you. Bringing your knees in and up as far as you can. Roll the ball back out, and return your pelvis to the floor. As you get more advanced, you wiill be able to leave your pelvis up, and just roll the ball in and out.

2. Incline Fly's on the ball
Sit on the ball and slowly lower your rear until you are almost sitting on the floor and leaning your shoulder blades against the ball. WIth your wrist weights on, extend your arms back and out liek you are flying. slowly bring them back in like you are hugging a ball in front of yourself. The weights shoudl be working right above your pectoral muscles,

3. Curl and Presses
with your wrist weights on, curl your arms up towards your shoulders doing a bicep curl. then press your arms upwards, extendign them all the way above your head.

jamie1888

You can create your own circuit exercise routine at home....
the idea of circuit training is continuous exercises so that you keep your heart rate up. Basically, you could do anything you wanted.
Just pick 3 or 4 exercises.
Example:
1 set of 12 squats (if you wear your wrist weights when you do them, you could do a shoulder press when you come up)
1 set of 12 jumping jacks
1 set of 12 ab crunches
1 set of 12 pushups

Like I said, you could do any exercise you want. Just complete 1 set of one exercise and move right into the next exercise. Once you've completed a set of all 3 or 4 exercises that you are doing, you repeat it again. Depending on your level, you can repeat the circuit as many times as you can comfortable do it. Your heart rate should be accelerated and it should take some effort to complete the set (if 12 is too easy, do 15 or 20... if 12 is too hard, start with 10, etc)

Hope that makes sense!

JustBeckyV

I agree you can make up your own but Jillian does so a lot with circuits in her videos.

NikkiDerrig386

Jump squats, jump lunges, burpess with an added push up, tricep dips, walking lunges, back lunges with a karate kick before switching legs, open squat jumps, push ups on a medicine ball (one arm on ball the other on the floor, open squats with lumber chops with medicine ball, cruches, planks, side planks, etc.... I can go on forever!

NikkiDerrig386

Try to use more than one muscle area with circuits for example dont just do a squat do a squat with bicep curls.. burns more and builds more which = more lbs loss

justineknight

Curves! I don't know what I would do without my Curves location by my house. Adding exercise into my busy schedule working 2 jobs is really hard so their 30 minute workouts are a lifesaver. They work every muscle group so you build muscle and raise your metabolism and you get your 30 minutes of cardio to burn calories at the same time. My location has the CurvesSmart system so I get to see how I did at the end of my workout and the number of calories I burned so I can enter them in here. I usually burn 300-500 calories in 30 minutes!
I just started following their weight management plan too. Time to get serious

Beehiveof8

I use the Jillian Michaels Boost Your Metabolism workout. It is 40 minutes (not including warm up and cool down) of circuit training, without any extra equipment. You might want a mat if you are using a hard surface. I use a rugged area to exercise and don't use anything but my own body weight. It is intense, but she does give beginner moves, and more advanced moves in it. I dreaded it at first, but now I look forward to it.