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circuit training

 
Dictionary: circuit training
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n.
A method of physical conditioning in which one moves from one exercise to another, usually in a series of different stations or pieces of equipment.


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Food and Fitness: circuit training
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Home > Library > Food & Cooking > Food and Fitness

Circuit training is an intensive form of fitness training in which a group of exercises are completed one after the other. Each exercise is performed for a specified number of repetitions or for a prescribed time before you move on to the next exercise. Whether you are a swimmer, cyclist, rower, racket player, or runner, circuit training will improve your mobility and stamina, enabling you to move more powerfully.

Circuit training using weight machines improves aerobic fitness, flexibility, and strength. Each machine in the circuit is designed to exercise a different group of muscles. Individuals move from machine to machine completing a set of exercises, usually in a predetermined time. Generally there are between 6-15 stations to complete in a time of 5-20 minutes. Aerobic benefit is gained by moving swiftly between machines and completing the circuit as a continuous flow of activity. This keeps the heart rate at a steady and fairly high level.

Circuits without weights or with free standing weights usually consist of eight to ten exercises chosen from a large number of possible ones, such as pattering or running on the spot, press-ups, abdominal curl-ups, free squats, squat thrusts, step ups, and arm curls (figure 22). Each session should start with a warm-up and mobility exercises, and end with cool-down exercises. The circuit should be designed so that the same muscle groups are not worked in consecutive stations. In the following circuit each part of the body is worked twice:

1 total-body exercise:e.g. ski-jumps
2 upper-body exercise:e.g. press-ups
3 lower-body exercise:e.g. bench step-ups
4 trunk exercise:e.g. sit-ups
5 total-body exercise:e.g. squat thrusts
6 upper-body exercise:e.g. chin-ups
7 lower-body exercise:e.g. free squats
8 trunk exercise:e.g. back extensions.
A complete session (warm-up, stretching, circuits, and cool down) should take about one hour. Generally, you should circuit train two to three times per week; circuit training should not be performed on consecutive days.

Figure 22 A typical circuit
Figure 22 A typical circuit


Circuit training is excellent for developing overall body strength and aerobic fitness. However, it is essential that the correct weights, repetitions and positions are established to avoid injury and to achieve all the fitness objectives. For serious athletes, the aim of the first training session is usually to establish the maximum number of repetitions that can be completed for each exercise, either to a point of exhaustion or in a given time. Each score is divided by three to determine the training rate for the exercise. At subsequent training sessions the athlete performs three circuits of all the exercises at the training rate. This rate can be adjusted as the athlete improves. Stage training is a variation of circuit training. Individuals perform exercises in sets, repeating the same exercise a number of times, before moving on to the next exercise. It tends to make more demands on the lactic acid system than traditional circuit training.

Sports Science and Medicine: circuit training
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Home > Library > Health > Sports Science and Medicine

Training that involves performing selected exercises or activities at a series of stations (typically 6-10). The stations form a circuit through which a person progresses either as quickly as possible or in a predetermined time. Most circuit training produces modest improvements in aerobic endurance and major improvements in strength, muscular endurance, and flexibility. Aerobic endurance can be emphasized by completing the circuit as quickly as possible with minimum rest and by placing the stations further apart.

Wikipedia: Circuit training
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 This article may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards. Please improve this article if you can. (May 2007)

Circuit training is a combination of high-intensity aerobics and resistance training designed to be easy to follow and target fat loss, muscle building and heart-lung fitness. An exercise "circuit" is one completion of all prescribed exercises in the program. When one circuit is complete, one begins the first exercise again for another circuit. Traditionally, the time between exercises in circuit training is short, often with rapid movement to the next exercise.

A good circuit training course works the different sections in the body individualy, an example of a circiut would be...

Arms - Pull ups

Abs - sit ups

Legs - step ups

Arms - shoulder press

Abs - Elbows and Toes (plank)

Legs - Burpees


Contents

History of circuit training and fundamentals

Circuit training is an evolving training exercise program that was developed by R.E. Morgan and G.T. Anderson in 1953 at the University of Leeds in England.[1]

Fundamentals

Early in the original format of Morgan and Anderson, the circuit was made up of nine to 12 stations. However, today, this number varies according to the design of the circuit. The program may be performed with exercise machines, hydraulic equipment, hand-held weights, elastic resistance, calisthenics or any combination. Themed circuits are possible, for example with boxing exercises (boxercise). A 15-second to three-minute aerobics station is placed between each station, allowing this method to improve cardio-respiratory and muscle endurance during the workout.

A simpler form of the exercise consists of a group running round a gym with a trainer simply calling, for example, "ten push-ups", "ten sit-ups" at intervals.

Studies at Baylor University and The Cooper Institute show that circuit training is the most time efficient way to enhance cardiovascular fitness and muscle endurance. Studies show that circuit training helps women to achieve their goals and maintain them longer than other forms of exercise or diet.[2]

And research from Morgan and Anderson showed:

“

Perhaps a most profound finding of this study, from a health perspective, is that this investigation clearly shows that performance of this circuit of exercises, at this level of intensity elicited oxygen consumption values (39% to 51.5% of VO2max) that meet established guidelines of the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) for the recommended intensity (40% to 85% of VO2maxR) of exercise for developing and maintaining cardio-respiratory fitness (Pollock et al., 1998). Thus, this circuit not only provides a suitable muscular fitness stimulus but also helps to meet ACSM cardiovascular guidelines and the newly published Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2005 for physical activity.[1]

 ”

Advantages of circuit training

  • May be easily structured to provide a whole body workout.
  • May not require expensive gym equipment.
  • Participants normally work in small groups, allowing beginners to be guided by more experienced individuals, as well as benefiting from the supervision of the instructor.
  • Can be adapted for any size workout area.
  • Can be customized for specificity; easy to adapt to your sport.
“ It's the most scientifically proven exercise system. It's time efficient and incorporates strength, flexibility and cardio in the same workout. (The Cooper Institute; Dallas, TX) ”

Disadvantages of circuit training

Circuit training is well-suited for developing aerobic endurance or fat burning. It is, however, less suitable for those wishing to build strength or muscle bulk[citation needed]. The duration of some circuit training stations can be in the region of 45 to 60 seconds, and in some cases as long as two minutes. These circuits typically mean that the number of repetitions performed on each station is relatively high, putting each exercise further towards the endurance end of the intensity continuum.

Those wishing to optimize increases in strength or muscle bulk (hypertrophy) can reduce the number of repetitions performed and increase the weight to be lifted or increase the intensity, when hydraulics or elastics are used. On the other hand, longer station length is quite appropriate for any cardiovascular (aerobic) stations included in the circuit.

Station times can be reduced to 15 or 20 seconds when all of the participants have an adequate level of experience. Reduced station times will encourage the participants to lift heavier weights, which means they can achieve overload with a smaller number of repetitions: typically in the range of 4 to 12 depending on their training goals[3]. However, this provides little time for an instructor to ensure that the activity remains safe and effective by observing technique, posture, and form.

See also

Footnotes

  1. ^ a b Kraviz, Len (1996-00-00). ""New Insights into Circuit Training"". University of New Mexico. http://www.unm.edu/~lkravitz/Article%20folder/circuits05.html. 
  2. ^ Heavin, Gary and Colman, Carol, C. Reprint edition (December 7, 2004). Curves: Permanent Results Without Permanent Dieting, ISBN 039952956X
  3. ^ Robert D Chetlin, Resistance Training - Contemporary Issues in Resistance Training: What Works?, Fit Society, American College of Sports Medicine, Fall 2002.

Sources

  • Kravitz, L. (1996). "The fitness professional's complete guide to circuits and intervals". IDEA Today, 14(1), 32-43.
  • Pollock, M.L., Gaesser, G.A., Butcher, J.D., Despres, J-P, Dishman, R.K., Franklin, B.A., & Ewing Garber, C. (1998). "The recommended quantity and quality of exercise for developing and maintaining cardiorespiratory and muscular fitness, and flexibility in healthy adults". Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, 30(6): 975-991.

External links


This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)

 
 

 

Copyrights:

Dictionary. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.  Read more
Food and Fitness. Food and Fitness: A Dictionary of Diet and Exercise. Copyright © 1997, 2003 by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved.  Read more
Sports Science and Medicine. The Oxford Dictionary of Sports Science & Medicine. Copyright © Michael Kent 1998, 2006, 2007. All rights reserved.  Read more
Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Circuit training".  Read more