Circuit Courses

lillieme

I am a US Marine and consider myself to be reasonably in good shape. However, I got injured and had to recover. During that time I went from my average 170 lbs to about 218 or so. Since that time, over the past 1.5 months I have dropped from 213 to 183. I average about a loss of 0.5 to 0.75 lbs per day and it is continuing. I eat 6-7 200 calorie-ish meals per day focusing on high protein, low fat, low carb. I do not endorse any kind of named diet as they are all trampoline diets. You drop fast and come right back.

Now, on to the exercise. I have always been a runner. I have ran so much over the past 18 years I have been in the Marines that my body really doesn't care about running in regards to physical fitness. i can run 7 miles a day and gain weight. So I have turned to Circuit Courses, and let me tell you, they work.

I have increased my run time, am losing weight at the cyclic rate, and am simply in a better place physically.

So, with all the talk in this forum about special workouts and all that jazz, just keep in mind that many of them are just a circuit course. There isn't any real magic in it. Pick 8 exercises which shift body parts and maintains a healthy heart rate and the weight will fall off.

The body becomes more efficient with exercise and will learn to adapt to continuous repetitive exercise. Running everyday and eventually you will plateau...eliptical everyday, samething...Doing a different circuit course everyday and you are continuously shocking your muscles and your system. This forces the body to react quickly and find fuel to burn, aka, fat (unless you are eating unhealthy low amounts of cals, then your body eats muscle and thats bad).

So that's my two cents. Forget systems, plans, named exercises and diets, and just do something! Just change it up.

Today I did 57 (or so) minutes of Circuit Course and Sprints. My focus for exercise is Interval Training (30 sec sprint, 90 sec jog, repeat 8 times or so) and with the circuit course I did the following:

Superset 1:

Incline shoulder press push-ups--10 reps -- Place feet on a bench, pike the body with head down, legs straight, and push-up. It works the shoulders.
Step-ups: 12 Reps per leg - Step up 24 inches, focus on pushing through your heel, step down, repeat with same leg for 12 reps. works the quads, glutes, hams, calves.

Do both exercises back to back with no break for a total of 3 sets.

rest 30 seconds - 1 minute.

Superset 2 --

Tire tow - 30 yards -- take a tire, tie a rope to it, go to the end of the rope, pull the tire towards you with only your arms. No legs. This will work the core and the upper/lower back.

Wide Grip pushups - 20 reps -- Push up with arms wide spread. Works shoulders, back, chest, triceps, and bi's.

Repeat Super set 3 times. No breaks in between exercises. 30 second break when done with all 3 supersets.

Superset 3 -- Static Lunge -- 8 reps. Take a 20-30 lbs dumbell or kettlebell and hold it to your chest. Feet together. Swing a leg behind you while bending over. Initiate the movement by rocking your hips backwards. Keep core tight and back straight. Works the Glutes, Core, Hams, yadda yadda

Swiss Ball Mountain Climbers -- 10 per leg -- Hands on a swiss ball, feet in push up position. conduct mountain climbers. keep the core tight. Works the Core, shoulders, arms, hip flexors, glutes, etc.

Prior to this i do a 10 minute warm-up, and after I do sprints. It takes about 45-55 minutes. With my heart rate monitor I maintain a 122-156 BPM in order to maximize weigh loss at 65-75% MHR. The sprints press into 85-95% which of course is VO2 range. This increases respiratory qualities and also induces your body to develop fat burning hormones. Doing this exercise I will manage to average about 700-900 calories in an hour. I change the exercises every two days and find new things to do.

I recommend this type of exercise over anything that is being marketed. Most of those do not work and are a lot of hype; however, whatever works or is working for you is great. Elevate that heart rate and get your life back!