Circuit training, when done correctly, can provide significant specific benefits for injury-prone, beginner exercisers, and even elite triathletes.
Circuit training is a high-intensity workout that combines aerobic exercise with strength training. The exact combination of strength exercises and the type of aerobic work can span the depths of your imagination. However, with the right planning and knowledge from a personal trainer you can mold a circuit-training program specifically designed to improve their all round fitness.
Who benefits from circuit training?
Circuit training can be effective if you have a busy schedule or travel frequently and you don’t have hours to spend at the gym, yet you want to do both strength work and cardio. A typical circuit routine lasts about 30 minutes and can easily be lengthened or shortened by changing the running distance between each set.
Circuit training is also especially helpful for the beginner or injury-prone exerciser who have the time to do more aerobic exercise. Are you training for a 5 or 10k? You can use circuit training to develop running-specific strength while still getting in an aerobic workout. Not only will this make you a better runner, but it will also begin to address some of the structural imbalances causing your injury in the first place.
Finally, circuit training is effective for athletes who are looking to lose weight or increase their percentage of lean muscle mass. While running burns more calories than almost any other pure aerobic activity, strength training, and specifically circuit training, has been found to burn more fat per minute than any other type of exercise. A running-specific circuit training routine gives you the best of both worlds – the aerobic development and calorie burn of a run with the fat burning benefits of a strength workout.