subject: How Can Cardio Circuit Training Help You? [print this page] How Can Cardio Circuit Training Help You?
If you're doing the same old boring workout all the time and find it hard to get motivated to get to the gym: Give cardio circuit training a try. Instead of jumping on the stair master for 30 minutes or doing a 5 mile on the treadmill, try mixing things up a little.
Cardio circuit training is exactly what the name implies. You mix your exercises together in a series of short circuits, rather than enduring on long session on a single piece of equipment. Try one session of treadmill, stair master and seated rowing machine -- all for ten minutes each. The key is no, or little rest between sessions.
The theory can be applied to almost any equipment in your gym or home. For example, using weight machines. Try leg presses, followed by a bench press, then cap it off with barbell curls. Normally doing muscle building exercises are just that, muscle building exercises. Combining them together into a cardio circuit training session turns them into a one-two punch for strength and aerobic conditioning.
The reason a routine like this never gets boring is because you have literally hundreds of different machines and pieces of apparatus to keep boredom out of the picture. You can switch up your routine any time, with different exercises on different machines, mixing traditional aerobic machines, with muscle building exercises anytime.
Athletes have been doing this type of circuit training for years. Instead of heading to the gym, you can go to your local park or track: Mix sprints with, long distance, then run over to the volleyball or tennis court for a set or two.
Mixing different exercises in this fashion can burn up to 20-30% more calories per workout session. This is often due to the fact that most of us start off strong, then generally start to pace ourselves as the workout goes on. Go ahead and give it a try sometime, you might be surprised at the pounds it will shed over the course of a month or two.
