Written by Garett Reid | NSCA, CSCS, CISSN, M.S.E.S.S
Fact checked by Kirsten Yovino, CPT Brookbush Institute
FACT CHECKED
Circuit training workouts are becoming increasingly popular as a method to burn fat, improve cardio, and increase muscle mass.
But do they really do all that? I hate to give the answer "it depends", but there's no simple one to give. How effective your circuit training is depends on how it's programmed and what your goals are.
For example, you can't just throw a bunch of random cardio exercises together and expect to get results. On the other hand, with just a little bit of planning, you can significantly improve the quality of your workout routine while hitting your training goals.
Obviously, if you're circuit training you want to fall into the latter category and get the most out of your routine. To help, I've created 7 different circuit training workouts and included all of the information you need so you can even make your own.
Table of Contents:
- What Is Circuit Training?
- 7 Best Circuit Training Workouts
- Circuit Training Workout Frequency
- Benefits & Drawbacks of Circuit Training
- Circuit Training Guidelines
- Programming Tips For Your Circuit Workouts
What Is Circuit Training?
Circuit training is a method of resistance training that strings several exercises together with minimal rest in between. Rest can vary greatly from no rest period to 30 seconds, up to 1 minute, depending on your purpose for performing circuit training.
While it's traditionally used in boot camp style settings or "weight loss" circuit training, the benefits are now also evident in the strength training world.
7 Best Circuit Training Workout Programs
Let's get right into it! First, I'm going to feature 7 different circuit training programs. Afterward, stay tuned, as I'll go over programming tips, the important benefits (and downsides) of circuit training, and some other great information you need to be aware of before performing circuits.
1) Landmine Workout 1:
Landmines are great when you're in a bind and need to knock out an effective workout fast. This is an awesome workout that gets back to the training basics. Four fundamental movements hit all your muscle groups, meaning you'll build muscle in a time-effective manner.
|
Exercise |
Description |
|
Landmine Squat |
Perform squats while holding the landmine attachment. |
|
Landmine Double-Hand Row |
Perform rowing motion using both hands with the landmine attachment. |
|
Landmine Deadlift |
Perform deadlifts using the landmine attachment. |
|
Landmine Kneeling Double Hand Press |
Kneel and perform a pressing motion using both hands with the landmine attachment. |
For this routine, perform 3-5 rounds of the exercises listed above, with 6-10 reps per exercise. Rest for 0:30-1:00 between rounds, adjusting the rest time based on your needs and fitness level.
2) Landmine Circuit Workout 2:
This landmine workout is going to contain more cardio exercises for a more intense workout.
|
Exercise |
Description |
|
Landmine Punch |
Perform a punching motion using the landmine attachment. |
|
Landmine Lunge |
Perform lunges while holding the landmine attachment. |
|
Landmine Rotation |
Engage core and rotate the landmine from side to side. |
|
Landmine Single Row |
Perform rows one arm at a time using the landmine attachment. |
|
Landmine Throw |
Explosively throw the landmine forward. |
For this routine, perform 1-3 rounds of 10 reps for each exercise with minimal rest. Adjust the weights and intensity based on your fitness level and goals.
3) Strength Workout 1:
This workout is quick and to the point for someone who either has limited time or wants to switch things up.
| Exercise | Description |
|---|---|
| Back Squat (Front Squat) | Perform back squats or front squats using a barbell. |
| Overhead Press | Perform overhead presses using a barbell or dumbbells. |
| Romanian Deadlift (Deadlift) | Perform Romanian deadlifts or traditional deadlifts with a barbell. |
| Bench Press | Perform bench presses using a barbell or dumbbells on a bench. |
| Bent Over Row | Perform bent over rows using a barbell or dumbbells. |
For this routine, follow a rep scheme of 3 rounds and 6-8 reps per exercise. Rest for 1:00 between exercises to allow for recovery. Adjust the weights and intensity based on your fitness level and goals.
Notice I put front squat and deadlift in parenthesis. This means that you can use the front squat in place of the back squat in some of your workouts, and the traditional deadlift in place of the Romanian deadlift.
4) Strength Workout 2:
Using just two supersets and one tri-set, this style works great for improving your strength.
|
Circuit 1 |
Circuit 2 |
Circuit 3 |
|
Deadlift |
Back Squat |
Chin-Up |
|
Bench Press |
Overhead Squat |
Dips |
|
|
|
Bent-Over Rows |
For this strength workout, perform 3 to 5 circuits, with 4 to 6 reps per exercise. Take 1:00 rest between rounds. Set up each new pair of exercises before starting the next circuit.
Start with Circuit 1, performing one round of Deadlifts and Bench Press. Then move on to Circuit 2, performing one round of Back Squats and Overhead Squats. Finally, proceed to Circuit 3, performing one round of Chin-Ups, Dips, and Bent-Over Rows.
Repeat this sequence 3 to 5 times, adjusting the weights and intensity based on your fitness level and goals.
5) Conditioning Circuit Workout:
This circuit training workout is perfect for your cardio or conditioning day. Based on full-body movements for an intense conditioning experience, this workout is great for burning fat to complement a strength or hypertrophy workout.
|
Exercise |
Distance/Duration/Reps |
|
Sled Push |
10m |
|
Push Ups |
20 |
|
Sled Pull |
10m |
|
Kettlebell Swings |
30 |
|
Farmer Carry |
10m |
|
Medicine Ball Over Shoulder |
10 |
|
Battle Ropes |
20 |
For this workout, you can perform 1 to 5 circuits. Each circuit includes the exercises listed above, with the respective distance, duration, or reps indicated. Rest for 0:30 between rounds. Adjust the weights and intensity based on your fitness level and goals.
6) Cable Circuit Training:
I love doing this circuit following upper body training days as it includes even more upper body exercise that serve as an awesome workout finisher. It's simple and effective.
|
Exercise |
Reps Range |
Rest Between Exercises |
Rest Between Circuit Rounds |
|
Rope Upright Row |
8-12 |
15 seconds |
30 seconds |
|
Face Pull |
8-12 |
15 seconds |
30 seconds |
|
Triceps Pushdown |
8-12 |
15 seconds |
30 seconds |
|
Front Arm Pull Down |
8-12 |
15 seconds |
30 seconds |
|
Rope Hammer Curl |
8-12 |
15 seconds |
30 seconds |
|
Single Attachment Lateral Raise |
8-12 |
15 seconds |
30 seconds |
For this workout, you can perform 1-3 circuits. Within each circuit, perform 8-12 reps of each exercise. Rest for 15 seconds between exercises and 30 seconds between circuit rounds. Adjust the weights and intensity based on your fitness level and goals.
7) Body Weight Circuit Workout:
If you're stuck, here's a workout using just your body weight. You'll notice that this has 8 exercises, which is fine as since you're only using bodyweight, you won't be hopping from one piece of equipment to another.
|
Exercise |
RPE |
|
Body Squats |
8 |
|
Push Ups |
8 |
|
Chin Ups |
8 |
|
Flutter Kicks |
8 |
|
Lunges |
8 |
|
Chin Ups |
8 |
|
Single Leg Hip Thrusts |
8 |
|
V-Ups |
8 |
For this workout, aim for an RPE (Rate of Perceived Exertion) of 8 with each exercise. You can adjust the number of circuits performed based on your preference and fitness level.
Remember, you can go to failure on the last set if you want to push yourself further. Customize the repetitions, sets, and intensity based on your individual goals and capabilities.
How Often Should You Do Circuit Training Workouts?
There is no right frequency for doing circuits. It may be all some people ever do, while it's only saved for special circumstances for others. Therefore, I can't tell you exactly how many times you need to run a circuit per week.
However, here are a couple of pieces of advice:
- You could run a smaller circuit every session for isolation exercises.
- For conditioning, you can run the conditioning circuit once a week.
5 Benefits Of Circuit Training
The average strength athlete misunderstands circuit training, thinking that lifting lighter weights is useless. In contrast, some bodybuilders rely solely on circuit training and supersets to reach their goals.
Remember, just about every style of training has advantages in the right situation. Here are some of the benefits of circuit training when your routine is programmed well.
1. Time Efficient:
Similar to high intensity interval training, probably the most beneficial quality of circuit training is that it can be an extremely time-efficient way to train. Instead of taking your standard two minutes of rest between sets of an exercise, with circuit training, you cut that down to 30 seconds.
Do a little math, and you'll see your total training time can be cut by 75%! That only applies if you use circuit training for your entire workout routine, but you get the point.
This makes it ideal for people who have "no time" to go to the gym. If you don't have "an hour" to spend at the gym, what about 20 minutes?
2. Adds More Volume:
Regardless of what your ultimate goal is, circuit training can be used to add volume to any session. For example, a common practice by strength athletes is to perform their normal strength training exercises with a traditional rep scheme, i.e., 4x4.
Once those are done, they will then finish their session using smaller accessory movements and isolation exercises. This is a great method for anyone with muscle hypertrophy goals.
3. Improves Cardiovascular Health:
If desired, circuit training can be structured to be quite intense and resemble cardio exercise. Even when you're just trying to cut some time off your total workout, getting the same amount of work done in less time is going to impact your cardiovascular health in a good way.
The effects that circuit training has on cardio can vary depending on what exercises you use. However, studies do show that circuit training can have a positive effect on your cardiovascular health¹. It can either improve your cardiovascular health or at least maintain it.
One study compared the effects of circuit training with heavy weights vs. a traditional program. It showed that measurements such as bar velocity and strength were similar, but the effect of cardio was substantially greater².
It should be noted that the chosen exercises were questionable and don't reflect real-world application (bench press, leg extensions, ankle extensions), but it is still something to consider. Even when cardio isn't your sole goal, by limiting your rest breaks you're going to be performing cardio circuit training exercises.
4. Improves VO2max:
In endurance sports, VO2 max is the primary indicator of potential success. While it is usually associated with cardio exercises, VO2 max is also required for the ability to perform any stressful work. That's why many point to it as being the best indicator of overall fitness.
VO2 max is a physiological variable that measures your efficiency at utilizing oxygen. When you take a breath and draw in air, a higher VO2 max allows you to utilize more oxygen to get more work done at the same intensity.
When circuit training includes high-intensity movements and multiple muscle groups, studies show that it can significantly affect VO2 max. If this is your goal, make sure to keep your recovery period to 30 seconds.
5. Improves Body Composition:
Circuit training might be able to help you burn fat and improve body composition. In theory, doing more work in the same amount of time while following a high intensity circuit training formula means burning more calories, but that only applies if you actually do more work.
For example, by doing the same exercises with the same rep scheme in a circuit workout style, you're just shortening your workout time without increasing the workload.
If you use the correct exercises and loading schemes instead, the increased intensity of circuit training can help you burn fat.
What Are the Drawbacks of Circuit Training?
Now let's talk about the not-so-beneficial attributes of circuit training. These can be either misunderstandings or actual drawbacks of circuit training, but either way, it's good to know about them.
1. Circuit Training Isn't Better For Strength Or Building Muscle Mass.
Circuit training is often touted to be good for improving muscular strength or building muscle mass. While it can do this, it doesn't mean that it's superior to a traditional workout split in actual improvements.
If you bring in the time aspect, you could maybe say it's "better," but that's assuming it provides the same benefits. There's no reason it would produce better results, and if anything, it may produce inferior results.
I am not saying circuit training doesn't work! But if time is not an issue, circuit training doesn't offer any benefits in terms of greater strength or muscle growth.
2. Most Circuit Training Workouts Require Multiple Pieces Of Equipment.
Depending on what type of circuit training you want to do, circuit training can require multiple pieces of equipment. This is especially true if you're using machines.
Oftentimes, gyms will have a specific "circuit training section," which has a variety of machines that you are supposed to work through in a specific order. They do this to keep the flow of traffic steady.
Think about it: If you had 3 trainees doing circuit training but following no specific order, they're either going to be using a ton of equipment or interfering with each other. Some gyms offer circuit training classes as well to manage this coordination and exercise instruction.
Because keep in mind, if you aren't able to move through your exercises efficiently or are stuck waiting for equipment, it's not really going to save you much time.
4 Programming Tips For Optimizing Your Circuit Training
I'd like to over some general guidelines and specific scenarios so you can optimize your circuit for a great workout. Following these rules, you'll even be able to create your own routines!
1. When You Need To Cut Down Workout Time:
If you are in a situation where you need to do circuit training to cut down the total workout time, your main priority is optimizing the training load for each muscle group. To do this, you must order the exercises in a way that they don't interfere with one another.
Exercise programs can be designed with different splits, or the way you order your exercises. The two main splits ideal for this are an upper-lower split and a push-pull split.
Here's a brief overview of different splits with circuit training.
-
Upper/Lower Split: This means you will be doing pushing exercises and pulling exercises on the same day, i.e., chest and back. Therefore, you will alternate between these:
- Bench Press --> Pull Ups --> Overhead Press---> Bent Over Row
- Back Squat--> Romanian Deadlift --> Leg Press --> Hip Thrust -
Push/Pull Split: This leaves you doing an assortment of upper body and lower body exercise on the same day. Alternate through them:
- Squat-->Bench Press --> Lunge --> Overhead Press
- Deadlift-->Pull Ups --> Romanian Deadlift --> Bent Over Row
However, if you can, I would advise you to train upper-body pushing exercises with lower-body pulling exercises and vice versa. This provides the least interference and will optimize recovery time. Further, this is similar to how you would perform a full-body workout.
-
Back Squat-->Pull Ups-->Romanian Deadlift--> Bench Press
For recovery time, use the maximal amount you can while still being able to get in the entire workout.
2. Using Circuit Training For More Volume:
If you are using circuit training for volume, you should still try and alter the movements, so they don't interfere with each other if possible. At the same time, it's not going to be as important as these are generally smaller exercises.
When you do this, I strongly recommend you use the cable machine. You can stay in one location and perform dozens and dozens of exercises like face pulls and hammer curls.
And sometimes I throw in circuit training like this after performing 3-4 big compound exercises. Don't worry so much about the recovery time here.
3. You're Performing At Home Circuit Training:
One very useful application of circuit training is using a full-body workout at home. When training at home with bodyweight-only exercises, you are generally limited in what you can do.
Further, working out at home just isn't the same as working out at the gym. For many, it can be a bit boring. One way to make these exercises more challenging while also making your workout exciting is adding circuit training to your home workout.
4. You Want Strength Training Exercises In Your Circuit:
When using circuit training with strength training exercises, you won't alter different muscle groups, and try to use 1-minute rest between exercises. Since this is usually 2 minutes, you will greatly reduce the workout time while allowing adequate rest.
When doing strength training in a circuit, you must be extra cautious with the loads and your rep count.
Even if you do alter between upper body and lower body exercises, you're still going to build up general fatigue. Before you jump into using your normal weights, run a couple of circuits to see how your body adapts to the stimulus and if you can handle it.
When your circuit workout for strength has numerous exercises, we recommend using multiple circuits instead of one large circuit. If you rest for 1:00 between each exercise, this is half of a normal rest period, so you would only need to pair two exercises in multiple circuits to save time.
Circuit Training Programming Tips
To put it all together, let's lay out the variables you want to include.
Not all circuit training workouts utilize little to no rest. However, the rest period should never be more than 1 minute, or it defeats the purpose.
Most rest periods will be on the shorter end, from 0 to 30 seconds. Don't forget that your rest period includes any time needed to swap weights or equipment.
When choosing how many exercises to do, I like to practice on the lower end of 4-6 exercises. Having more can be confusing as well as disturbing to other people in the gym. If you do have multiple exercises, break them up into 2 circuit workouts.
While there are some instances when you run through a circuit just once, you could do however many sets you would normally do. On average, this will be 3. If you have time, you could bump this up to 5, but it depends on your goals.
- When doing a final set of isolation, you can do 1 circuit to max.
- All other circuits can run the normal amount of circuits.
The loads you use can be the same as you would normally as well. You can also plan on doing fewer reps in the later sets due to fatigue. You should only be overly concerned with this when you're doing exercises like back squats and bench presses.
You're able to use any exercise you want to with circuit training. The determining factor will be what variables you're trying to improve or why you're using circuit training, as we went over above. One strategy you can utilize is including strength training exercises with cardio bodyweight movements, like mountain climbers.
However, I strongly recommend using the cable machine for smaller accessory movements and isolation. You can pair this with bodyweight exercises or free weights.
When writing the order of exercises, your main goal is to have them have minimal interference with one another. This generally means swapping muscle groups.
Circuit Training Workouts: Final Takeaways
There you have it. I just gave you the low down on circuit training as well as a host of various workouts to fit every need and training goal. Feel free to use any of the workouts as is or use them as a framework to create your own.
When used right, circuits can be instrumental in following an effective workout plan, either by adding a new stimulus, allowing you to get in a workout in a short time, or as a method to help get in volume and cut down on training time.
As long as you understand what circuit training is and how to do it correctly, it will be a pivotal training method in your repertoire.
Looking for more information on circuits? Check out our article on Circuit Training: Benefits, How To, and Bonus Workouts!
References:
- Wirat Sonchan, Pratoom Moungmee, Anek Sootmongkol. The Effects of a Circuit Training Program on Muscle Strength, Agility, Anaerobic Performance and Cardiovascular Endurance. World Academy of Science, Engineering and Technology International Journal of Sport and Health Sciences. Nov 2017. Vol:11, No:4,
- Alcaraz, Pedro E1; Sánchez-Lorente, Jorge2; Blazevich, Anthony J3. Physical Performance and Cardiovascular Responses to an Acute Bout of Heavy Resistance Circuit Training versus Traditional Strength Training. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research: May 2008 - Volume 22 - Issue 3. doi: 10.1519/JSC.0b013e31816a588f
Garett Reid
Author