The Difference between Circuit, Interval, and Cross Training

The Difference between Circuit, Interval, and Cross Training

If you are bored with your workouts and feel like the fitness improvements you used to see have vanished in thin air, then you may be ready to add circuit, interval or cross training to your exercise program. These three methods of training can help you "shake" up your body so that it gets out of the doldrums of doing the same old thing repeatedly. They're not new. They've been around a long time and in fact if you stick around a gym long enough, you're bound to hear about them. Here are the advantages and disadvantages of circuit, interval and cross training. See which method will work for you.

Circuit Training
R.E. Morgan and G.T. Anderson invented circuit training in 1953 at the University of Leeds in England. It was supposed to be an all-in-one exercise format that worked both the heart and the muscles. The original format had the exerciser moving through a series of weight training or calisthenics "stations" arranged consecutively. It was a fast-paced workout of 15 to 45 seconds per station with little (15 to 30 seconds) or no rest between stations. It was an efficient way for coaches to train a large number of their athletes in a limited amount of time with limited equipment.

Today, the original format is called "circuit weight training" and is still used in the same manner except that scientists now realize that although muscular strength and endurance increase and you can burn a considerable number of calories, there is little or mild improvement in aerobic stamina. You see, circuit weight training may leave you breathless and sweaty but research has shown that although the heart beats many more times, it does not actually pump out a larger volume of blood. Therefore, circuit weight training cannot really be considered an efficient way to increase aerobic stamina.

According to exercise physiologist Dr. Len Kravitz (Idea Today Magazine) individuals with cardiovascular disease and hypertension used to be discouraged from performing circuit weight training. However, research has found that this format is safe for these individuals as long as only light weights are used.

A newer variation is "aerobic circuit training" which uses the same principles as circuit weight training but instead of weight training exercises, you use aerobic stations (treadmill, stepper, rower, bike, jogging in place). Intensity in all stations is kept moderate. Do one to five minutes per station with 15-second breaks in between stations. In this format, aerobic stamina as well as muscular endurance is increased but muscular strength is not improved.

Interval Training
Interval training was the brainchild of Dr. Woldemer Gerschler of Germany in 1930. His premise was that an athlete could exercise at more intense levels if he or she was given intervals of rest or relief to recover from the intensity. In other words, high intensity in small tolerable doses.

Interval training incorporates periods of high intensity exercise (called the work interval) alternating with periods of lower intensity (called the rest or relief interval). One work interval and one rest interval equals one cycle. There are usually eight to ten cycles in one workout session. The ratio of work to rest intervals depends on you. A ratio of 1 is to 3 or 1:3 means the recovery is three times as long as the work. For example, 30 seconds sprint, 90 seconds walking. An example of a 1:2 ratio would be 60 seconds run and 120 seconds jog. 1:1 could be three minutes high intensity aerobic dance and three minutes low-intensity aerobic dance. A very popular interval training format is three minutes high intensity aerobics (running, stepping, aerobic dance) and one minute weight training exercise.

Interval training trains both the aerobic and anaerobic systems. Think of walking or jogging at a pace that you can comfortably continue for fifteen to twenty minutes as aerobic exercise and think of running or sprinting as fast as you can for 30 seconds to three minutes as anaerobic exercise. In other words, aerobics is steady and continuous while anaerobic exercise is short quick bursts of power and speed. A marathon is aerobic while the 100-meter dash is anaerobic.

Interval training enhances sports performance because it more closely mimics the way the heart and muscles have to work in many sports of a stop-and-go nature (soccer, basketball, etc.). It can be adapted to almost any sport. For example, swimmers or cyclists could alternate sprints with slow swimming or cycling.

Interval training is a time-efficient workout that allows you to work as hard as you can and burn mega calories without "killing" yourself since it gives you regular rest intervals where you can regain your energy and catch your breath before going all out again on the next work interval. Since it is so demanding, do interval training on alternating days.

High intensity interval training is dangerous for people with low fitness levels. However, the concept of interval training can be still be used by novice exercisers by incorporating intervals of rest or relief of very low intensity exercise. For example, walk at a moderate pace for two minutes (work interval), and then walk at a very slow pace (rest interval) for two minutes.

Cross Training
Cross training came about in the early 80's when runners were looking for something new and realized that by adding biking and swimming to their programs (thus was born the "triathlon") they could prevent overuse injuries, develop new skills and strengthen muscles not used in running while still maintaining their aerobic capacity.

The Eastern Bloc countries were also experimenting with the "active recovery" concept. Instead of letting the athletes do nothing at all during their rest days, they were doing low-level training different from their sport and found that it enhanced recovery and maintained fitness levels better than pure rest.

Cross training means doing different exercise activities either during the same workout session or on different workout days. For example, fifteen minutes of running, fifteen minutes of rowing, fifteen minutes of stepping all in the same workout session. Alternatively, you could swim on Mondays and Wednesdays, bike on Fridays, and do weights on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays.

Cross training relieves the boredom of doing the same exercise all the time. It also helps you burn more calories by not allowing your body to become too efficient at one activity. However, if you switch activities too frequently, you will not burn the calories you want to because you are still awkward at the new exercises. Add one new activity at a time and become fairly proficient at it before adding something else.

Injuries can also occur if you do the new activity at a demanding level. Always start at a lower level of intensity than the exercise you are used to. For example, if you are used to lifting weights and decide to add fitness kickboxing as your cross training, do not join an advanced class. Start at the beginner's level.

If planned properly, cross training prevents muscle imbalance by working all your muscles. For example, runners have strong legs and weak upper bodies if they don't cross train with weight lifting.

Cross training can increase general fitness levels better than doing only one type of workout. However, if you are an athlete approaching competition time, decreasing time in your sport to cross train in another activity can lead to deconditioning.

All three methods in a nutshell.
It's easy to remember the difference between circuit, interval and cross training if you keep in mind the following key words. Circuit training has no rest periods as you go from one station to the next with the same intensity all throughout. In interval training, think "hard and easy" or "work and rest". In other words, intensity goes up and down. Cross training is simply doing a different type of exercise either on alternating days or during the same workout session.

Source: http://www.tinajuanfitness.info/articles/art092899.html