Circuit Training - the best way to get fit

Circuit training is the best way to burn fat, turbo-charge your metabolism, build muscle and most importantly, get fit.

Far too many people go to the gym and focus on single movement exercises. Do you ever notice that the people doing single movement exercises and hang around the ‘machines’ all day are out of shape? Well, they are. Why? Because these types of exercises concentrate on only a few muscles and require extended recovery times between sets. The problem is that when you take extended breaks (over 2 minutes) your heart-rate plummets, making it hard to burn calories. Also, these concentrated exercises (concentrated curls, single leg extensions, triceps pull downs, etc.) only engage a few muscles at a single time. So when you finish 1 set, the few muscles used need a few minutes for recovery. Again, your heart-rate slows down at this point.

Circuit training means performing 3 or more exercises in succession; enabling you to target several muscles within 1 complete circuit set. The result is that your heart-rate skyrockets and you tax several, even dozens, of muscles at once.

Here is a good circuit training routine to get you started:



You can incorporate any 3 or more exercises into your circuit sets. Focus on free-weights and try to target as many muscles as possible. Also, the nicest thing about circuit training is that your core is constantly being engaged. And the best way to strengthen your abs is through multiple full body and multiple movement exercises. Straight sets of crunches are a thing of the past because simply, they don’t work as well as a well executed circuit set.

So to get really fit, make sure you tax your whole body and keep resting times to 1 minute between circuit sets.

Contact me if you have any questions!

And stay tuned for the next post on the benefits of free-weights.

The Cardio Myth

If you’re trying to lose weight, tone-up, or just feel better you will probably ride stationary bike or jog on a treadmill. Why? Because you have been told that ‘cardio’ will get you fit. This is the ‘Cardio Myth.’

First off, traditionally, idea of ‘cardio’ involves running or biking on some stationary piece of equipment.


(ancient technology really)

Fine, but it’s wrong! ‘cardio’ means ANY activity that spikes your body’s usage of oxygen. Your heart beats, your blood pumps, your lungs crave oxygen and effectively, you burn calories.

So ‘cardio’ should stand to mean any exercise that makes your body work hard.

Okay, so how does this new definition get me fit?

It’s simple. When you ride a bike or run (traditional ‘cardio’) you burn calories, which is good. But there’s one problem with these methods; you aren’t re-training your body to function differently. Your body is operating the way it always has except for burning some extra calories.

To really get fit, you need to focus on resistance exercises. Weight training, and especially circuit training, helps you burn a lot of calories. But more than just that, weight-lifting RE-TRAINS your body.

By tearing down and then building up muscle (the process of gaining muscle) you are effectively re-training your body to function in a different way. The calories you consume can now be put to work, repairing broken down muscle, not just sitting there.

Put it this way:

Traditional Cardio -> burn calories -> then you re-consume calories -> calories sit idle = same loose body with a little less fat

Weight training -> burn calories -> tear muscle -> then you re-consume calories -> calories are used to repair muscle = trained, fit body

I’m not saying traditional cardio is bad, but I think it’s over-rated. If you weight training, your body will constantly be using calories for repair – reshaping your body.

Weight training isn’t just for bulky body builders, anyone can do it and by doing it properly you can achieve your fitness goals – big and strong, long and lean, sleek and slender, etc.

I hope this makes sense, but if you have any questions feel free to drop me a line. Let’s discuss.

Stay tuned for the next blog post on Circuit Training!