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Circuit Training at Its Finest!

Health Clubs and Fitness Centres

Circuit Training at Its Finest!By John Platero

In a time when everyone is promoting 30-minute workouts to make Personal Training affordable, I'd like to remind you that most athletes could never train for just thirty minutes and make any gains, let alone maintain their form.

Baseball, basketball, football, tennis, soccer, volleyball, triathlons, cycling and jogging all last longer than a half an hour. Although, a volley in tennis or volleyball might last a few seconds or a football, basketball or baseball play might last the same, an athlete must be able to focus, concentrate and keep their head on the game for much longer than 30 minutes. However, in soccer, cycling, triathlons and running it's rarely the case these sporting events will last less than 30 minutes. Think back to your high school or college days. When did your practice ever last 30 minutes? There was the warm-up, stretching, skills, plays, scrimmaging, special teams, laps and a cool-down. All that in 30 minutes? Can't happen. The human body is an amazing machine. It can withstand a whole lot of punishing. It also can adapt very well. Very quickly, this machine will be able to handle 30 minutes.

The workouts below are for conditioning not hypertrophy. A bodybuilder would rarely train this long. Most clients won't have the time, however some will not only have the time, however also have the money. Because of the long days of summer, you might be able to perform this training outside. These workouts should last about two hours plus and burn approximately 1500 calories depending on the size of the client or customer and intensity of the exercises.

Warm-up

30-40 minutes on the treadmill, bike or some piece of cardio.

Starting at 15 minutes, add at a 1:1 work: rest ratio, .60, .90 and 1:20 second intervals with 3-5 minutes in between those three intervals. The intervals could be speed or hill intervals. Progressively increase the speed or the grade of the hill on each interval. You might need to keep the first and second bouts the same speeds or incline.

For example:5.0 mph for 15 minutes or 0% grade5.5 mph for .30 seconds or 3% grade5.0 mph for .30 seconds or 0% grade6.0 mph for .90 seconds or 4% grade5.0 mph for .90 seconds or 0% grade6.5 mph for 1:20 seconds or 5% grade5.0 mph for 3-5 minutes.

Repeat the same or proceed starting with 6.0 mph or 4% grade.

Here are four circuits to be completed twice each before the bouts of jumping rope.

The loads and reps might change based on your client.

Always obtain a client profile with exercise history, medical history and any medications.

1. 2 ft box jumps with 20-40lb weighted vest 15-25 reps2. Medicine ball sit ups (with weighted vest) 25-50 reps3. Squat. Same vest 25-50 reps4. The plank 3-minutes: .30 prone, .30 to each side with .30 prone in between and then .60 prone to finish.Jump rope for 5 minutes1. Hamstring curl (heavy) 8-12 reps2. Dumbbell clean and press 15-25 reps3. Reverse hip extension on ball 15-25 reps4. Standing lunge with a lateral raise (until failure)Jump rope for 5 minutes1. Plyometricdumbbell push-up to a standing dumbbell press. (Pick light dumbbells and good good fortune trying to get 25 reps)2. Reverse crunches 25-50 reps3. Pec dec or one-armed cable cross-overs 15-25 reps4. Ab machine (heavy 10-12 reps)Jump rope for 5 minutes1. Pull-ups (as many as possible)2. Russian twists w/medicine ball (2kg) between the feet3. Contralateral one-arm rows with a lunge on a low cable4. Leg raises with a medicine ball (2kg) between the feet

Jump rope for 5 minutes

Cardio

Jog, cycle or perform some mode of cardio for 30 minutes at 60-70% of functional capacity.

Stretch and cool down

Warm-up

Perform the same as the previous workout

Circuit Training(Start with body weight and then add a weighted vest)

Squat 25-50 reps90 degree jumps with a wide stance. 25-50 repsSplit jumps 15-25 repsJump squats 25 repsUBE (upper body ergometer or tubing) for 5 minutesDrop push ups off of two medicine balls. 10-15 repetitionsPec deck on two stability balls. 10-15 reps. (Prone, a wide stance with elbows bent, one on each ball similar to a Pec deck)Push-ups with legs on the stability ball. 15-20 repsOne-armed cable crossovers. 15-25 repsStationary bike for 16 minutes performing intervals at a 1:1 work to rest ratio, 2 minutes seated, two minutes standing for a total of four intervals.Hip extension on ball. 10-15 repsSupermans .60-1.30 secondsProne free style kick on stability ball. .60-1.30 seconds. (Prone, on stability ball with hands secured to something)UBE 5 minutesSmith machine chins. 15-25 reps. (If the client or customer is not strong enough adjust the bar so it's only about 2-ft above the ground. Have the client or customer lie down under it).Alternating pulls with torso rotation. 25 repsStaggered stance one-arm rows 15-25 reps (you may incorporate a lunge)One armed cleans. 15 reps. (start in a squat position and hang the dumbbell between the legs, sumo style)Cardio

Jog, cycle or perform some mode of cardio for 30 minutes at 60-70% of functional capacity.Stretch and cool down

I hope this gives you some ideas. ENJOY!

John Platero is the founder and owner of Future Fit, Inc. a successful multi-faceted fitness company (Generally, a company is a form of business organization. In the legal field, a company is specifically "a corporation -- or, less commonly, an association, partnership, or union -- that carries on a commercial or industrial enterprise) that manages personal trainers, provides fitness products, services and educational services for the consumer. He is also the Director of the N.C.C.P.T. (The National Council of Certified Personal Trainers) which has certified thousands of personal trainers at its intensive, two-day workshops held throughout the country. For more information and details please visit www.nccpt.com

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Fat Loss Circuit Training Workout

Health Clubs and Fitness Centres

Fat Loss Circuit Training WorkoutBy Yuri Elkaim

Today I'd like to give you an exciting full body workout that will burn tons of calories and leave you feeling great in just 40 minutes. So if you want to burn fat, tone up, and get fit then this workout is for you.

Another great advantage of this workout is that all you need to complete it is a set of dumbbells, a stability ball, and a step. A cardio machine is advised for your interval training component.

The fat or adipose tissue burning workout I'm about to provide you with is an example of the type of fat or adipose tissue burning circuit training workouts that will truly make a difference for you.

So here's how it's going to work. We're going to take 6 exercises and set them up in a circuit training routine. For each exercise you will be completing as many repetitions as possible in a 30 second time period. After each exercise you will then rest for 30 seconds before moving on to the next one. Once you've completed the entire first set you can then grab a sip of H2O and rest for 1-2 minutes.

After your 1-2 minute rest period, you will then choose a cardio machine and perform 5 minutes of intervals. The interval training component is a superb way to spike your metabolism and burn further calories in just a few minutes. For these intervals you will be working hard for 10 seconds and recovering for 50 seconds. This will be repeated 5 times for a total of 5 minutes.

For instance, if you are on the bike you would pedal as fast as possible (at a good resistance) for 10 seconds and then follow that with a nice and easy 50 second recovery. Got it? Awesome!

Both the circuit training and interval training sequences are repeated twice.

So here's how the workout structure will look:

Warm-up

5 minutes light cardio

CIRCUIT 1 (30 sec. work, 30 sec. rest)

Standing lunges Plank Step-ups with biceps curls and shoulder press Push-ups Stability ball crunches Ball squats (against wall) with biceps curls

Rest 1-2 minutes

INTERVAL TRAINING 1 (10 sec. hard, 50 sec. recovery)

Rest 1-2 minutes

CIRCUIT 2 (30 sec. work, 30 sec. rest)

Standing lunges Plank Step-ups with biceps curls and shoulder press Push-ups Stability ball crunches Ball squats (against wall) with biceps curls

Rest 1-2 minutes

INTERVAL TRAINING 2 (10 sec. hard, 50 sec. recovery)

This entire workout should take you no more than 40 minutes.

Fitness Expert, Yuri Elkaim helps millions of busy health conscious individuals lose fat or adipose tissue while sculpting lean muscle with just 3 short enjoyable workouts a week. Watch his new You Tube Video for all the exercises from this article! And as a special bonus, you'll receive a FREE special offer to receive one of Yuri's FREE Fitter U™ fat-burning workouts to help you create a smokin' lean and fit body!

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What You're Probably Not Doing in Your Workouts That is Critical to Helping You Burn Fat!

Health Clubs and Fitness Centres

What You're Probably Not Doing in Your Workouts That is Critical to Helping You Burn Fat!By Yuri Elkaim

If you're pressed for time, looking to lose weight, and sick and tired of workouts that are boring and useless, then grab hold and continue reading.

A critical element that many people overlook in their workouts is structure. Structure is important in all facets of life. For instance, in the English language the structure of sentences can lead to different meanings even if the words are precisely the same.

"Jack ate a bowl of cereal for breakfast." We understand this perfectly. But what if the words read "Jack ate breakfast for a bowl of cereal." This doesn't make sense and is no longer effective as a sentence.

A similar phenomenon occurs with exercise and workout structure, especially if you're looking to lose weight. When it comes to losing weight the ultimate goal is to burn lots of calories in your workouts while developing lean muscle through resistance training and boosting your immediate metabolic rate through high intensity cardio training.

But what types of exercises are you supposed to do and how are you supposed to structure them for max results? It's a common question and even more common mistake that many people make.

One of the reasons why high intensity circuit training is so effective for fat or adipose tissue loss is that it is specifically structured to enable your body to burn fat or adipose tissue (not muscle) in the least amount of time possible.

This is accomplished through 2 critical components. Short and intense followed by exhilarating interval training workouts. In all, these fat or adipose tissue burning workouts take no more than 45 minutes to complete.

Many people feel that resistance training isn't necessary for fat or adipose tissue burning. This is an unfortunate belief because at the end of the day it is lean muscle that will burn more calories than anything else you do.

If you want to shed fat, the key to getting the most out of your resistance training workouts is to set them up in a circuit training fashion. This means that you take a number of exercises (let's say 6) and complete 1 set of each exercise and then move on to the next one without much rest in between. This set up gives an incredible aerobic training effect while stimulating your muscles to become leaner and stronger.

I like to encourage my clients to use a time interval rather a number of reps for their sets. For instance, doing as many push ups as possible in 30 seconds in place of saying just 15 reps. This makes the workout relative to your own fitness level. Using time intervals enables you to give your greatest possible effort during the time given. And as you get fitter you will be able to perform more work, and thus burn more calories, in the given interval or set.

Here is an example of a time efficient and fat-burning workout from Fitter U.

Warm-up: 5 min light cardio

Circuit training workout: perform as many reps as possible in the 30-second set, rest 15 seconds, and move on to the next exercise. Rest 2 minutes after all exercises are completed once. Repeat for a 2nd set.

1. Push-ups 2. Ball squats with biceps curls 3. Side bridge 4. Lunge walks with lateral raises 5. Stability ball crunches 6. Stability ball hamstring roll-ins

Interval cardio training: any cardio machine

10 minutes total 30 seconds hard: 30 seconds easy recovery

Total workout time: 40 minutes

As you can see there is a fair amount of structure to an effective workout. But with structure comes time efficiency and results. Give this one a shot and you'll see what I mean.

Fitness Expert, Yuri Elkaim helps millions of busy health conscious individuals lose fat or adipose tissue while sculpting lean muscle with just 3 short enjoyable workouts a week. Watch his new You Tube Video and discover his Fitter U™ exercises and workout structure that will help you burn fat or adipose tissue now! And as a special bonus, you'll receive a FREE special offer to receive one of Yuri's FREE Fitter U™ fat-burning workouts to help you create a smokin' lean and fit body!