Ignorant question about circuit training vs weight training

I am by no means a personal trainer, but circuit training is when you use a series of machines to exercise different parts of your body. You are using weights, but when you use the machines, different companies design their machines in their own ways to "maximize" the effect on your muscles. I did a lot of Nautilus training in the past and in its heyday, in the 1980s, Nautlius claimed that its unique cam design was better than free weights (using a barbell and round weights on the side) because it did a better job of working your entire muscle.

You can have your circuit of machines designed so that you do upper body one day and lower body another day, or set up a circuit to work the entire body in one single workout.

Both circuit machines and free weights are considered "weight training". Hope this helps in the most basic sense.

Hi, you are making weight training! Circuits also are weight training, but the difference is that in circuits, you don't have any rest (45-60 sec) in circuits you do all your machine or free weight continusly. This type of excercise is good for tone muscle.
Also you have to do cardio workout daily minimun 5 days. Doing this, your body, will also "burn" fat the days that you don't do excercise.

Good luck

I agree with the explanation of circuit training....a series of exercises without rest in between. so, if you did the 5 machines boom, boom, boom, boom, boom without rest in between...then rested a minute or so before doing the same 5 machines without rest in between...that would be a circuit. OR, as someone suggested, doing jumping jacks or step ups in between each machine or set, without rest between the machine and the jumping jacks/steps, then that would also be circuit training. doing a series of exercies without rest in between brings in cardio training (even if you're not doing the typical long, boring cardio).

I disagree that you "have to" do cardio minimum of 5 days. you have a personal trainer. listen to him/her. but you don't need standard, long, boring cardio to get in shape. in fact, depending on how overweight you might be, long, boring cardio has some risk of injury to your joints.

Do you use the fit linx machine at the Y? It tracks it there. And if you're logging that here it's under strength training.... All the machines are listed

Thank you everyone! I very much appreciate the input.

Just to clarify - I'm doing 3 reps of 12 one one machine with 45 seconds or so between each rep, then I move to the next machine. So I do NOT think this is circuit training then, if I'm reading the above correctly. I am going to log it as weight training.

As for the cardio thing, my trainer said I could do it every day if I wanted - but that I didn't have to. He did stress that on the days I do the strength training, I need to do the cardio first, then strength after, if I do cardio at all.

Because I LOVE walking on the treadmill, I think I will do some cardio, but perhaps not as much as I do on the "no strength training" days. He is also encouraging me to use the elliptical, which I detest, but he said I should at least try it for a bit...so I'm going to try it.

Anyway - again, thank you all! You've been very, very helpful!

Let me help here. You are doing 3 SETS of 12 REPS. And if you're changing machines after 3 sets, then you're weight training. If you were to do an exercise on one machine, then went to the next machine after 45 sec, then onto the next.......that would be circuit training.