Aerobic Circuit Training Aerobic Circuit Training- Strength Training AND Cardio

Cardio Circuit Training

I’ve had clients ask if we were going to do cardio after strength training. And I explain to them that if done properly, strength training is also cardio. A recent study on circuit training confirms what people who perform circuit training have known all along: it really gets your heart rate up!

Since aerobic circuit training uses short rest periods and alternating muscle groups, it has a cardio effect. Blood has to be pumped in rapid succession to totally different parts of the body. That causes your heart to work overtime. In this respect, you will get the same aerobic benefit doing properly designed circuit training as you would from using the elliptical or treadmill.

A recent study in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research found that circuit training definitely improves cardio fitness. The study reports that circuit training meets the guidelines for cardiorespiratory fitness, as established by the ACSM (American College of Sports Medicine).

How to get the most from aerobic circuit training

To get the most cardio-aerobic benefits from circuit training, make sure that you keep moving. You want to create a circuit that has 6 to 10 stations. Some gyms have loops of machines set up already for this purpose. Since you don’t want more than 60 seconds between exercises, make sure that you can quickly get from one station to the next.

You want to keep your muscles working without overly taxing them at any one exercise. That means that you should find a weight you can perform at least 15 repetitions of. You can also go by time, finding a weight that you can handle for 30 seconds at a sitting.

The beauty of circuit training is that it builds you cardio system and “tones” you muscles at the same time. You get the heart health benefits of time on the treadmill with the perks of strength training. Plus, it also increases your metabolism.

Guidelines

The aim of this, especially for aerobic circuit training, is to keep moving. Accordingly:

• Find a weight for each exercise that you can perform no more than 15 times. Then, in a few weeks when you are able to perform 20 reps, move the weight up.
• Keep the rest interval brief, between 30 and 60 seconds.
• Do a minimum of 2 full circuits of 6 to 10 exercises.
• Take a 2 to 3 minute break between circuits.
• Remember to start light and build up your resistance levels over a few weeks. Otherwise, as is the case with any strength training program, you could develop extreme soreness.
• Make sure that your heart rate is at least occasionally at 65% or more of your maximum heart rate. As a very general guide, find your maximum heart rate by subtracting your age from 220.
• Remember to alternate muscle groups and to focus on major muscles (back, chest, upper-legs). And don’t forget the core. Add in crunches- this also tends to drive the heart rate up.
• To keep progressing with aerobic circuit training, keep increasing the weight over time and/or shorten the rest periods.
• Change up your workouts every 3 weeks.
  
  
• Get More Circuit Training Info Here

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