20 Minute Circuit Training
Now that you are feeling familiar and comfortable with your resistance bands, we can really step up the speed of the workouts. Circuit training is high intensity aerobic workout intended to build endurance and strength. The great thing about circuit training is that it is fast and effective. It is the perfect workout to squeeze in on a lunch break or between your daytime and evening responsibilities. Not only is this workout fast, but we took the jumping out of it. Some of you may be familiar with circuit style training at places like Crossfit and know that there is usually a lot of jumping. Besides the fact that I personally find Crossfit unnecessarily hard on the joints, especially the knees, we decided to omit jumps for several reasons. One, if you are doing this at home it is likely you don't have a lot of space or gym floors and thus run the risk of damaging household objects, not to mention your joints absorbing unneeded impact from unpadded floors. Two, without a mirror or an in person instructor, the speed of circuit training can lead to you easily lose your form, which will make the exercises ineffective and possibly dangerous. If you are more advanced in your workouts so you can sense proper form and improper form without being told, this is a great advantage, but we wanted to make this workout accessible to everyone.
Circuit 1: Squats and Walks
Begin with your resistance band just above your knees and do your squats. You want your feet hip distance apart and feet flat on the ground; do not allow your heels to lift from the floor. Bend your knee and let your thighs go parallel with the floor. For your squat walks you will stay with thighs as close as parallel as possible with the floor and walk whichever direction the instructions dictate. For squat slams and calf raises you will start in your thigh parallel position, with arms to your sides. Rise up to your toes and extend your arms overhead, then slam your arms down in front of you as you squat.
The circuit here will be: 2 Squats, 4 Squat side walks to the left, 2 Squats, 4 Squat slams to Calf raises, 2 Squats, 4 Squat side walks to the right, 2 Squats, 4 Squat slams to Calf raises, 2 Squats, 4 Squat walks forward, 2 Squats, 4 Squat slams to Calf raises, 2 Squats, 4 Squats walks back.
Circuit 2: Bear Planks and Fire Hydrants
Bring yourself down to the mat and get on all fours. Place your hands directly under your shoulders and knees directly under hips. Keep your resistance band just above your knees. Curl your toes under and raise your knees off the ground just a bit, keeping the abs pulled back to spine and the back flat. This is your bear plank. From here we will do several moves. Knee twists will be bringing your knees together and twisting them from right hand to left hand. Fire hydrants will be bringing the knees down and opening the leg to the side.
The circuit will be: Bear plank for 30 seconds, Knee twists x8, Bear plank 30 seconds, Fire hydrants 5 each leg, Bear Plank 15 seconds, Knee twists just to the right x8, Bear plank for 15 seconds Knee twists just to the left x8, Bear plank 30 seconds, Fire hydrants 5 each leg.
Circuit 3: Lunges and Lats Pulses and Rows
Take your resistance band and place halfway up your forearm. Stand with legs in neutral, shoulder width apart. For your lunges you will take a step back, curling your toe under and bending your front leg, keep your knee behind your toe and aim for the front thigh parallel with the ground, do not let your back knee touch the floor. As you lunge, raise your hands overhead and open them wider than your shoulders. Once you have the hang of this, you can balance in the lunge while pulsing the arms out, out, out. For your lat rows you will bring your arms in front of you bent in L's. Elbows are in line with shoulders and shoulders are pressing down, elongating your neck. Pulse your arms in and out an inch. For your rows, drop your wrists to be in line with your elbows. So now your wrists, elbows and shoulders are all in line while your arms maintain the L shape. Neck is long, shoulders are down and you now pinch your shoulder blades together.
The circuit will be: Lunges 5 each side, Hold your last lunge and pulse overhead x10, Lat pulses x5, Lat rows x5, Lunges 2 each side, Hold your last lunge and pulse overhead x10, Lat pulses and Lat rows to exhaustion.
These circuits can be combined together or done separately. If you decide to do the circuits separately, then repeat 3 times, if you do them together you can do the round once for a quick workout or twice for an added challenge. Though speed is where you get the cardio in these workouts, do not sacrifice form. Remember, without proper form you are wasting your time! It may take a few times to get the hang of the circuits before you are ready to go as fast as possible and that is ok. If you find yourself exhausted before completing the circuit, you may rest for 30 seconds, but walk in place or keep some sort of movement to avoid simply stopping and starting abruptly.
Have you ever tried circuit training before? What are some of your favorite circuits? Contact us with your comments or questions at info@bullionite.com.