Thursday, May 3, 2012

At Home Circuit

I love doing circuit training.  It can make the time go faster and keeps it interesting.  We have a nice little bunch of exercise equipment in the basement and it's perfect for doing circuits.  I thought I'd give an example of one of our typical 40ish minute circuits since I know how much I like reading other people's at home workouts.


For those who may not be familiar with some of the exercises, here are links to some of them.
Planks
Mountain Climbers  (video)
Weight Bag Flips  (video - flip comes in about 10 seconds in)
Clean and press  (video)
Kettlebell swings  (video)
Concentration curls (video)
Weight bag dead lifts - I stand with the weight bag on the floor and bend forward like I'm going to do a regular dead lift but I lift one end of the weight bag as my resistance.  This kills my obliques by the end.

Obviously circuits aren't for everyone and I'm not suggesting you do mine (or any circuit before checking with a doctor first) but they can be a fun way to shake things up!

If you were going to make up a 30 minute circuit, what exercises would you include?  Let's inspire each other to come up with some variety in our workouts!

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8 comments:

  1. Well, shoot. I forgot I was going to do mountain climbers today. Oh well, there's always Saturday. :)

    Thanks for sharing one of your workouts. This looks like a good one! I should explore doing timed sets instead of reps-based sets. It would definitely be a different way of working out for me.

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  2. I just busted out some circuit training at the gym!

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  3. I like the idea of doing timed reps too. Since I started the Brazil Butt Lift videos I really like the timer at the bottom of the screen, it helps me to stick it out. Thanks, I'm going to fit this into my workout too.

    As far as what I'd include in a circuit: step ups, pushups, double crunches, side step ups, reverse lunges, shoulder press, tricep extension, jumping jacks, bent over rows, a little side step, a little dancing, definitely throw some fun in there, my workouts tend to be just a ritual after a while so I try to make it fun...I'd switch from lower body to upper body to keep the blood flowing back and forth too. I can't do too much jumping around or things like mountain climbers without modification due to a back injury ten years ago, but I find no excuse to bring it.

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  4. I wanna come work out at your house! I thought I had a good collection of workout stuff, but you guys put me to shame!

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  5. The strength endurance class I go to at my gym has been doing circuits, and they are great--keeps us moving and keeps it from becoming boring. I've been thinking about setting up my own little circuit at home for when I can't make it to the gym, love your list!

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  6. Circuits keep it interesting. I like the idea of timing yourself -- I usually do 2 sets of 15-20 reps. Instead of hopping back on the machines, I use mountain climbers, jumping jacks, and star jumps for the cardio part.

    You have to try the spiderman push-up -- you start in plank then move your left foot and right hand forward about two inches, dip, then return to plank and do the other side.

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  7. I like circuits because I like the short timed intervals. If you tell me I have to do (insert anything here) for 20 or 30 minutes I shut down. The same thing for one minute is fine. Really any exercise for one minute I'm fine with.

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  8. I tried to comment a minute ago and it didn't show up. I hope I'm not double posting.

    I really like the idea of circuit training. I go to Curves as my primary school-year workout so there's that. I also prefer that style of workout at home. Doing any given workout for a long period of time makes me want to shut down to conserve energy, doing any exercise for 1-2 minutes and I don't feel like I need to do that. I think I get a better workout overall by switching it up. I guess I don't have a huge preference for exercises, I'm fine with anything for a short period of time.

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