How To Design an Effective Circuit Routine

Circuit training has become one of the best ways to maximize the efficiency of your workout by focusing on both cardiovascular and muscle endurance. It has the benefit of including countless exercises to choose from and different ways to program those exercises into your routine. But how do you decide what exercises are best for you? Here’s how to design an effective circuit routine.

Choose Time Intervals

The first step is to determine your workout-to-rest ratio. No matter your goal with a circuit workout, you’ll only see real results if you time it effectively to get the proper intervals of exercise and rest. If you’re a beginner, it’s best to start with an aerobic circuit, as it is the safest and most accessible option. For an aerobic routine, a ratio of 1:1 is the most appropriate, meaning that you should consistently perform one to five minutes of exercise and then one to five minutes of rest. However, take note that recovery doesn’t mean stopping. Recovery activities are on par with cooldown exercises. Pacing around after a jog would be an appropriate resting activity.

Choosing Your Exercises

After you’ve established timing intervals to fit your goal, consider what exercises you want to include in your circuit. You’ll want to plan for between four to eight different exercises and keep in mind that you’ll be repeating this circuit more than once over the course of your workout, so don’t add too many tasks, or you may fail to complete the circuit more than once. Now, what exercises are most helpful during a quarantine? Well, cardiovascular exercises are easy and effective with the investment of home gym equipment like a home stationary bike or a treadmill. Dumbbells are also a versatile piece of equipment that you can with bodyweight exercises or for muscle endurance training. However, the element you’ll need to remember most is to pay extra attention to your form as you complete your routine, especially as you get tired.

Choose the Number of Rounds

As you learn how to design an effective circuit routine, you’ll notice an added benefit is that circuit training is flexible enough to conform to your schedule. If you’re short on time, you can still get a varied workout through circuit training. Your circuit doesn’t need to be very long on its own, and the challenge comes more from performing multiple rounds. As such, to adjust for your time, you can reduce the number of rounds you complete rather than changing up the exercises.