Circuit Training

Many gyms and fitness centers today offer a specialized type of working out called circuit training. At its very base, circuit training is a series of specialized exercises that a participant does in intervals. There will be different stations with a set of exercises. You would go from station to station doing reps and sets of the exercises while quickly moving onto the next one without pause once you are done, until the entire circle is complete.

The number of stations in one session of circuit training varies, depending on your goal and fitness level when you begin. Obviously, someone who is working towards, let's say, a triathlon is going to have many more reps in a session of circuit training than a person who has led a sedentary lifestyle and is just beginning to exercise again.

Each station's challenge usually lasts anywhere from 45 seconds but almost never more than three minutes. The reasoning behind this is that you need to exercise many different muscle groups, and you are also trying to do exercises that are intended to have different results. For instance, one session could have cardio, strength and endurance, all of which are a whole different set of exercises.

The advantages to this type of workout is that it allows you to workout more than one muscle group at a time, can be adapted to any size workout area (depending on how many stations), can be adapted to include little to no expensive exercise equipment and can be adapted if you are working towards a particular sport or goal. The average workout is 20-30 minutes in length and will not only improve your heart and lung function but also help you burn fat.