Circuit training

Circuit training combines about 8-10 exercises that are completed one right after the other, with little or no rest in between.
Perform each exercise for a specified time (like 1 minute), rest for no more than 30 seconds before moving on to the next exercise.
Once you complete all exercises, that is considered one circuit.
For beginners, start with 30 seconds per exercise and increase the time as you get stronger. Another way to progress is to shorten your rest in between exercises and circuits.



To start, use the following specs to help you select your exercises:
</B>1. Select exercises to work each muscle group (I ususally break mine down into Upper body 1 & 2, Lower body 1 & 2, and Core 1 & 2).
2. Include exercises for agility and endurance (like jumping side-to-side over a phone book)
3. Don't forget to work on your speed too. Incorporate sprints (if you can) or fast jogging in place.

Remember - Work ALL sides.
Meaning, if you do squats you should also do hamstring curls.
Bicep curls ... Tricep kick backs.
Creating a *balanced* work out is so very important.
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1. No consistency .

You have to be consistent with your weight lifting program. Building muscle is hard work and it will take consistency to build quality muscle.

Remember that building muscle is a slow process and takes months to see any quality results. This is an important weight lifting tip, be consistent and your efforts will eventually pay off.

2. Poor eating habits .

You have to feed your body the right amount of calories, protein, carbohydrates and fat in order for it to grow. All of these nutrients must be in balance if you ever want to build muscle.

Don't let anyone tell you that you only need protein to build muscle. Protein is only 1/3 of the equation to building muscle regardless of what supplement companies may tell you.

The real trick to building muscle is finding your personal nutritional combination that will unleash your muscle building fury. Once you find this nutritional key, I guarantee your body will explode! This is a very important weight lifting tip.

3. Poor weight lifting techniques .

If you don't work the muscle, your not going to grow. If you overtrain the muscle, your not going to grow. The trick is to find a happy medium that places enough stress on the muscle in order for it to grow. This is where smart weight lifting comes into play.

4. Not enough rest .

No matter how hard you train or how much you eat, if you don't get the rest you need, your workouts are going to fizzle. It is during sleep that most growth and repair occurs. Without adequate sleep the body becomes weakened.

This is an important weight lifting tip. It is crucial to your muscle building program that you get the correct amount of sleep because muscle growth happens while you are resting, not while you are training.

If you were to lift weights on a steady basis and not get any quality rest,your body would slowly fall apart.

Weight lifting tears the muscle tissue down and the diet provides the necessary fuel and material for repair, but it is during sleep that the repair and growth process occurs. Therefore, sleep is as vital to building muscle as is your training program and diet.

To achieve your muscle building goals, your going to have to find the right balance between weight lifting, nutrition, and rest. Remember this weight lifting tip, get enough rest in order to build muscle .


Side note: If you are strengthing your body ... why not add flexiblity? Many people often neglect this area of their workout - whether you are weight lifting or doing cardio - you need to stretch! Proper body mechanics are *always* needed for everything you do ... it will help prevent problems down the road.

I am not sure who started this rumor .. but I am here to snuff it out.:)

Weight Training or weight lifting is not just for the boys. I know that if/when you hit the gym that the majority of the people you see in the weights area are male (or as one of my friends so rudely stated - she-males).

Please keep in mind that you don't have to train to be a rippling-muscle-bulging specimen - unless you *want* to. And you don't need to spend hours at the gym a day to see results - unless you like hanging out at the gym for hours. :D

I would recommend that my fellow female weight lifters try training 3 times a week (or alternate days with 1 day of lifting and 1 day of rest from training with weights).

Also - keep in mind that weight bearing exercises help *us* women fight off osteoporosis or osteopenia (essentially a lesser degree of osteoporosis).

Want more info? Just post in this thread and let me know you are interested.

- Ane

I take it you train? :D Nice to see ;)

I take it you train? :D Nice to see ;)
Yes I do :)

How did you guess?:eyebrow:

I worked extensively right out of high school for a couple of years and freinds started calling me the pet name Brutis , flash forward to 40 and here I am starting again .although I only have free weights ,a bench w/incline and dumbbells and curling bar ,do you know any good exersizes for the stomach ,and the legs short of joining a gym ?

I have only been back at it for a couple weeks now but I can see results ,I have tried to stay fit over the years .

I worked extensively right out of high school for a couple of years and freinds started calling me the pet name Brutis , flash forward to 40 and here I am starting again .although I only have free weights ,a bench w/incline and dumbbells and curling bar ,do you know any good exersizes for the stomach ,and the legs short of joining a gym ?

I have only been back at it for a couple weeks now but I can see results ,I have tried to stay fit over the years .
As a matter of fact I do! :)

((if you get yourself an exercise ball/physioball ... I will have TONS more stuff to give you for your stomach, back, and legs))

For your legs:
:D I would work on walking lunges with no weight to start with. Make sure that your knees don't do over your toes!
:D Lateral (side to side) movements with squats are great toners too for your legs and behind. Basically you start off on one side of the room, side step to your left/right (about shoulder width apart) then squat. Rise and place feet together ... then repeat until on the other side of the room .... then head back by doing it ALL over - heading to your right/left. Same thing applies ... try not to let your knees go over your toes when you squat.

For your abs: (ask if you want a detailed description of these)
:D Reverse crunches
:D planks
:D Lateral planks

For your back: (you need to keep your back balanced with your abs)
:D Start with the swimmer/swimming
lay on the floor with your stomach on the ground. Raise your right arm and left leg at the same time - be careful not to raise you leg too high! Just make sure you clear the ground. Repeat on the opposite side (with your left arm and right leg) And that is one repitition. I would start off with 1 set of 10. then work on holding each side for 3 to 5 seconds each. Once holding for 5 seconds is easy ... work your way up to 2 sets of ten and so on


I hope this helped!
Please let me know if you need more ideas!

- Ane

I started using weights while doing aerobics (bk - before kids), but it hurt my back. (whine whine whine)

Did I just not stretch out enough? Was I just whimpy and if I kept going it would have been fine? I now do yoga (inconsistently - slap me) but it seems like very different work-out philosophies. Yoga is gentle, flows with the breathing, breathe into stretches and pain = bad. Weight training (if memory serves me correctly) seems more "no pain no gain", push it, etc.

But they don't have to be the antithesis of each other...do you think they would work together well?

do these exersizes build musle or just tone -I'm in to the pain for the gain :D

I try and lift 3- 4 days a week. Now that I'm over 50, I don't try and see how heavy I can go.I just enjoy being in the weight room. It's great stress relief.

it's a wonderful stress relief ,gets rid of anger and is healthy ,and makes you look terrific :D but I do think pain is the quickest to bulk , and I like that and the ladies like that :eek:

Establishing the habit is very important. It takes a long time, sometimes all of 12 weeks to get to a place where you would not want to quit because it feels good and right to do.

If you are feeling pain in the beginning you are likely over doing it.

Muscle takes about six weeks to recover damage, tendons and ligaments much more time yet and bone takes the longest to adapt.

If we are gentle and patient many things are possible. Enjoyment is tops in my book. Like Mctavish, I'm in this for the smiles.

I may have to do something other than run in the winter, but that's a long way off. I've been thinking about weight training a lot. I found a book I really like about weight training.
http://www.humankinetics.com/products/showproduct.cfm?isbn=0736042660

I started using weights while doing aerobics (bk - before kids), but it hurt my back. (whine whine whine)

Did I just not stretch out enough? Was I just whimpy and if I kept going it would have been fine? I now do yoga (inconsistently - slap me) but it seems like very different work-out philosophies. Yoga is gentle, flows with the breathing, breathe into stretches and pain = bad. Weight training (if memory serves me correctly) seems more "no pain no gain", push it, etc.

But they don't have to be the antithesis of each other...do you think they would work together well?
Well - since I have not seen how you did the weights with the aerobics (and I am NOT a MD) I couldn't tell you whether or not you didn't stretch enough.

I can tell you that most people get back injuries because they have not balanced their back muscles and abdominal muscles. And/or because they have poor form.

You have to ask yourself something - what kind of pain were you experiencing? Was it a sharp pain? A burning pain? A dull pain? On a scale of 0 to 10 (0 being none and 10 being I am dying - take me to the hospital) what would you say your pain is?

I personally feel that you need to know the difference between muscular discomfort (from building muscle) and pain signifying injury concerning the "no pain, no gain" concept. I suggest to all my friends to get to know your body. I will explain that more upon request.

- Ane

do these exersizes build musle or just tone -I'm in to the pain for the gain :D
Essentially, when you work your muscles (more so to the opint of fatigue) you are strenghtening them. The leg exercises will definately tone intially, but you can build from there (once able) and gain muscle.

Once you are comfortable with the back exercise I suggested, I will suggest another - more advanced version that will help tone.

Remember - you should tone before you build. But that is just my humble opinion.

good luck in your workouts! :D

- Ane

Establishing the habit is very important. It takes a long time, sometimes all of 12 weeks to get to a place where you would not want to quit because it feels good and right to do.

If you are feeling pain in the beginning you are likely over doing it.

Muscle takes about six weeks to recover damage, tendons and ligaments much more time yet and bone takes the longest to adapt.

If we are gentle and patient many things are possible. Enjoyment is tops in my book. Like Mctavish, I'm in this for the smiles.

I may have to do something other than run in the winter, but that's a long way off. I've been thinking about weight training a lot. I found a book I really like about weight training.
http://www.humankinetics.com/products/showproduct.cfm?isbn=0736042660
Well put Ian ... :)

I prefer the slow and steady when I train (so that I let my body gradually deal with the new stresses) to the "beat it into submission" tactics some of my friends tend to take.

Again, my humble opinion.

- Ane

I'm a big fan of weight lifting. I've been doing it for 2 1/2 years now. I really think it makes a much bigger difference on the appearance of your body than cardio does (though I do that too). I'm really glad to see another female advocating weight training because so many women are afraid of doing it.

I'm a big fan of weight lifting. I've been doing it for 2 1/2 years now. I really think it makes a much bigger difference on the appearance of your body than cardio does (though I do that too). I'm really glad to see another female advocating weight training because so many women are afraid of doing it.
*blushes*
Thanks ... I have loved weight training for many years. :)
I think that , IMHO, weight training does "sculpt" you body more visibly ... but cardio is the "icing on the cake" so to speak. It keeps you heart healthy and helps melt away fat.

Just my two cents.

- Ane

hey ane ,my swiss ball came today and I've tried it already and can see the advantages .
Do you think I need to gain any weight to start off ,I'm 5'10 and 155 lb.s ,and in good shape, very symetrical.
I'd like to train so I can see my abbs but also get bigger muscle mass which is why I'm pumping the iron .any advice ?

I'm waiting for my body fat to get down below 10% to see my abs. :D

how close are you to your goal,Ian ?

Oh not very close I don't think. I'm down to 168 from 189, but I expect there is another ten pounds at least before I begin to look lean in the places I naturally store fat.

My legs are dead hard now and reasonably well defined, but my stomach and lower back have lots of extra padding left to go before there is any definition there.

Although it will be nice to have my body so fit looking it's the lighter load for running that's motivated me to lose the extra weight. Who wants to run long distance with a 15 pound pack on? Not me!
Cheers! Ian.

think of it as wearing 15 lb.s of weights to strengthen your legs ,the way people wear the ankle weights for training and yours does'nt bounce loose ! ;)

This is no attempt to rip on your original post Ane. I have never in my life understood the concept of "toning". Lifting lighter to give a more "toned" look. I tell you this, I remember one of the best looking girls in my gym. She had a really good looking body which were cut and toned. The difference between her and alot of other girls in the gym was huge. She would do heavy squats with like 80-90 kg and other compound movement instead of lifting useless isolation exercises. Well, most women today seem to diet wrong and loose alot of muscles, and then train to light to give any real effect. The outcome is a high BF percentage on a low bodyweight, and that looks soft and not so good. I think most men prefer a girl who have diet in a healthy way and lift heavy enough for her to have some muscle.

I think most girls are afraid to look big and muscly, but girls don't build muscle as quick as men or as efficient. It will take a long time to grow for men, even longer for women. My advice for all the girls who want a better looking body is to lift pretty heavy with compound movements. Focusing on squats, deadlifts, rows, bench press, skull crushers, calf raises, military presses, (assisted) chin-ups, (assisted) dips, etc... It's sad to see the girls waste their time in the gym by lifting a weight which is obviously not heavy for them. Most girls seem to be afraid of really giving 100% in the gym section. Lift 4-8 reps or 6-10 and really blast the muscle, at the last rep you shouldn't be able to lift it once more even if your life depended on it. This way you will get the "tone" you are after much quicker and get alot more respect.

So when you put together a program just focus on the compound stuff

Hamstring curl --> Do stiff leg deads instead
Kickbacks --> Do skull crushers, dips or JM presses
Preacher curls --> Do Chin ups with close grip/rows/(straight bar curls)
Hyperextensions --> Do Deadlifts/Good mornings
Leg extensions --> Squats/Leg press
Deltoid raises --> Military presses/arnold presses/db presses
Db flyes/pec deck ---> Bench press/Db Press/dips
well and so on...

Cardio has its place IMO but not too much, a heavy set of squats with double your weight will tax the heart loads more than runnign half an hour in the tracks. In fact I don't do cardio at all and my bloodwork is awesome, I have a strong heart and low pulse.


William Tell:

You are best of joining a gym if you can. The same advice to you, focus on heavy exercises if you want to grow. Eat lots of protein and lots of carbs. If you add muscle and little fat then you will get leaner as you grow. Squats and deads will give you a solid looking waist too, the muscles in the midsection is stimulated alot, especially the internal obliques. Just don't fall in the trap and try to reduce fat while building muscle at the same time. It's really hard if not impossible to do.

ADDMuscle:
No worries - everyone is intitled to their own views. :)
See - I *think* what you were refering to (of what I wrote) is the high weight/low reps versus the low weight/high reps. Am I right?

I personally train to achieve a lean look. I eat clean and use cardiovascular exercise to burn fat as well as weight train, pilates, yoga, and boxing. I do different activities (cycles) to help ensure that I don't plateau. I also vary my workout because I can't lift with the vigor I did when I was 19. I have a soft tissue disorder that makes doing many of my favorite exercises difficult (and sometimes painful).... simply stated: I am overly flexible where I should NOT be and my joints/bones dislocate. So instead of a regular squat - I have to do a box squat in a cage. I find other ways to build muscle and "tone" because I have to ... :(

Looks like you are a competitive weight lifter - Kudos to you. :D As far as cardiovascular exercise - You actually do do cardio. If you lift like you suggest in your post, then you do get your heart rate up into your target zone for endurance .... You just go about it differently. As my doctor says: All it takes to maintain heart health is raising you pulse to the right range for 60 mins a week total.

You made some wonderful suggestions for the more advanced lifters. How long have you been training? I would love to see and example of your workout sets/schedule. Sounds like you are a pro at this. :)

Thanks again for sharing.

- Ane

hey ane ,my swiss ball came today and I've tried it already and can see the advantages .
Do you think I need to gain any weight to start off ,I'm 5'10 and 155 lb.s ,and in good shape, very symetrical.
I'd like to train so I can see my abbs but also get bigger muscle mass which is why I'm pumping the iron .any advice ?
No, there is NO way you can actualy gain muscle while loosing bodyfat. People claim there is, but the simple fact is it may let your muscles be more "visible" but you will NOT gain any actual muscle being calorie restricted.

You must have a caloric surpluss to gain any mass.



Anyway, I started training right out of high school, at my biggest I was around 240 with around 10% bf, because of school though ive been slacking off quite a bit, im around 200 or so right now. (5'10")

For strength: high weight low rep (I like 8/6/4 or 3 sets of 5 reps)
To tone (almost all non-athelete ladies should be in this group): low weight high rep ( 3 sets of 10-15 reps)

Most people probly know that but you never know

This is no attempt to rip on your original post Ane. I have never in my life understood the concept of "toning". Lifting lighter to give a more "toned" look. I tell you this, I remember one of the best looking girls in my gym. She had a really good looking body which were cut and toned. The difference between her and alot of other girls in the gym was huge. She would do heavy squats with like 80-90 kg and other compound movement instead of lifting useless isolation exercises. Well, most women today seem to diet wrong and loose alot of muscles, and then train to light to give any real effect. The outcome is a high BF percentage on a low bodyweight, and that looks soft and not so good. I think most men prefer a girl who have diet in a healthy way and lift heavy enough for her to have some muscle.

I think most girls are afraid to look big and muscly, but girls don't build muscle as quick as men or as efficient. It will take a long time to grow for men, even longer for women. My advice for all the girls who want a better looking body is to lift pretty heavy with compound movements. Focusing on squats, deadlifts, rows, bench press, skull crushers, calf raises, military presses, (assisted) chin-ups, (assisted) dips, etc... It's sad to see the girls waste their time in the gym by lifting a weight which is obviously not heavy for them. Most girls seem to be afraid of really giving 100% in the gym section. Lift 4-8 reps or 6-10 and really blast the muscle, at the last rep you shouldn't be able to lift it once more even if your life depended on it. This way you will get the "tone" you are after much quicker and get alot more respect.

So when you put together a program just focus on the compound stuff

Hamstring curl --> Do stiff leg deads instead
Kickbacks --> Do skull crushers, dips or JM presses
Preacher curls --> Do Chin ups with close grip/rows/(straight bar curls)
Hyperextensions --> Do Deadlifts/Good mornings
Leg extensions --> Squats/Leg press
Deltoid raises --> Military presses/arnold presses/db presses
Db flyes/pec deck ---> Bench press/Db Press/dips
well and so on...

Cardio has its place IMO but not too much, a heavy set of squats with double your weight will tax the heart loads more than runnign half an hour in the tracks. In fact I don't do cardio at all and my bloodwork is awesome, I have a strong heart and low pulse.


William Tell:

You are best of joining a gym if you can. The same advice to you, focus on heavy exercises if you want to grow. Eat lots of protein and lots of carbs. If you add muscle and little fat then you will get leaner as you grow. Squats and deads will give you a solid looking waist too, the muscles in the midsection is stimulated alot, especially the internal obliques. Just don't fall in the trap and try to reduce fat while building muscle at the same time. It's really hard if not impossible to do.
Nice. Post!

...except for the training to failure part, that's highly overrated IMO. However...nice to see this considering it's not a fitness site.

To tone (almost all non-athelete ladies should be in this group): low weight high rep ( 3 sets of 10-15 reps)

That's a ridiculous statement. Not only because "toning" as you mean it does not exist, you either build muscle or lose it...but because you perpetuate the myth that ladies are going to get big and bulky like a guy if they lift heavy weights. Women do not have the necessary hormones to get big and bulky w/o chemical assistance.

No, there is NO way you can actualy gain muscle while loosing bodyfat. People claim there is, but the simple fact is it may let your muscles be more "visible" but you will NOT gain any actual muscle being calorie restricted.

You must have a caloric surpluss to gain any mass.



Anyway, I started training right out of high school, at my biggest I was around 240 with around 10% bf, because of school though ive been slacking off quite a bit, im around 200 or so right now. (5'10")
Actually...there are a few instances where it can happen. A person just new to weight training and eating a cleaner diet will often lean out a bit while they are gaining muscle...quite simply because they existed on junk food and never did any exercise previously...you can't help but improve your physique. Sometimes it happens after a long layoff as well...you experience "newbie gains" as I mentioned. However, most people think gaining muscle and losing fat at the same time is common and attainable. Most end up spinning their wheels because gaining muscle requires a surplus of calories and losing fat requires a deficit.

This is no attempt to rip on your original post Ane. I have never in my life understood the concept of "toning". Lifting lighter to give a more "toned" look. I tell you this, I remember one of the best looking girls in my gym. She had a really good looking body which were cut and toned. The difference between her and alot of other girls in the gym was huge. She would do heavy squats with like 80-90 kg and other compound movement instead of lifting useless isolation exercises. Well, most women today seem to diet wrong and loose alot of muscles, and then train to light to give any real effect. The outcome is a high BF percentage on a low bodyweight, and that looks soft and not so good. I think most men prefer a girl who have diet in a healthy way and lift heavy enough for her to have some muscle.

I think most girls are afraid to look big and muscly, but girls don't build muscle as quick as men or as efficient. It will take a long time to grow for men, even longer for women. My advice for all the girls who want a better looking body is to lift pretty heavy with compound movements. Focusing on squats, deadlifts, rows, bench press, skull crushers, calf raises, military presses, (assisted) chin-ups, (assisted) dips, etc... It's sad to see the girls waste their time in the gym by lifting a weight which is obviously not heavy for them. Most girls seem to be afraid of really giving 100% in the gym section. Lift 4-8 reps or 6-10 and really blast the muscle, at the last rep you shouldn't be able to lift it once more even if your life depended on it. This way you will get the "tone" you are after much quicker and get alot more respect.

So when you put together a program just focus on the compound stuff

Hamstring curl --> Do stiff leg deads instead
Kickbacks --> Do skull crushers, dips or JM presses
Preacher curls --> Do Chin ups with close grip/rows/(straight bar curls)
Hyperextensions --> Do Deadlifts/Good mornings
Leg extensions --> Squats/Leg press
Deltoid raises --> Military presses/arnold presses/db presses
Db flyes/pec deck ---> Bench press/Db Press/dips
well and so on...

Cardio has its place IMO but not too much, a heavy set of squats with double your weight will tax the heart loads more than runnign half an hour in the tracks. In fact I don't do cardio at all and my bloodwork is awesome, I have a strong heart and low pulse.


William Tell:

You are best of joining a gym if you can. The same advice to you, focus on heavy exercises if you want to grow. Eat lots of protein and lots of carbs. If you add muscle and little fat then you will get leaner as you grow. Squats and deads will give you a solid looking waist too, the muscles in the midsection is stimulated alot, especially the internal obliques. Just don't fall in the trap and try to reduce fat while building muscle at the same time. It's really hard if not impossible to do.
I've been following similar principles for a period now with success. I do compund lifts with a barbell, heavy with only a few soconds rest between sets. I do about 3-4 sets per lift and avoid going to failure.

This morning I did:
Overhead Squats - 1x12, 1x8, 1x4
Clean n Jerks - 1x12, 1x8, 1x4
Deadlifts - 1x12, 1x8, 1x4, 1x4
Incline Dumbell Press - 1x12, 1x8, 1x4

I do cardio but again I go short and intense, 15-20 mins twice a week.