CLOCKWISE - v- ANTICLOCKWISE

isn't exercising all about resistance and exertion so you would want to take the path of most resistance?

This sounds like a similar theory to the coriolis effect to me

http://sciencebasedlife.wordpress.com/2011/05/28/the-hemisphere-youre-in-does-not-change-the-spin-of-the-water/
This site explains that it has to be HUGE things that are affected by the Earth's rotation, like hurricanes. I would consider people to be more like toilet bowls (with reference to the site)

There is a Physics man here who posts great responses. I hope he sees this post.

I'm sorry, but I don't understand what you mean by "exercise in a clockwise circuit?" Do you mean moving from weight machines or benches around the gym clockwise or something???

Sorry to sound dumb...just trying to understand your question before I attempt to answer it.

You don't sound dumb. At least, I hope not, because I wondered the same thing. I think, however, that the original poster was referring to running laps around a track.

Like Sallie, I think this question refers to what is called the Coriolis effect. This is a formulation in mechanics by which we explain why the physics we observe on the earth's surface is not explained exactly by applying Newton's laws of motion in an "inertial" (i.e., non-accelerating) frame of reference. Since the earth is in constant rotation, it is not, in fact, an inertial frame. Atmospheric scientists find it convenient to account for the constant acceleration of a coordinate system that is at rest with respect to the earth's surface by inventing a fictitious force (the "Coriolis force"). As Sallie suggests, however, the departures of the behavior of earthbound objects from that predicted by Newtonian mechanics on the assumption of an inertial frame are completely negligible, unless the objects involved are very large or very massive, such as weather systems (large chunks of the atmosphere).

It's been suggested that draining water swirls one way in the northern hemisphere and the opposite in the southern, due to the Coriolis effect. I think that for a system on the scale of a basin or sink full of water, any Coriolis effect is completely dominated by variables of much greater significance, such as the state of motion of the water before the drain is opened, the shape of the container, the shape of the drain, and so forth.

Likewise, for humans circling a running track, there isn't going to be a Coriolis effect that is measurable. We are very complicated by our psychology, and the exerciser's expectations are bound to be very important in determining whether we think it's easier going clockwise or counterclockwise. As a practical matter, I would say that the correct direction is the one that you find makes you feel the best -- for whatever reason.

Cheers!