Switching to a circuit-training routine burns fat by picking up the pace of your workouts. You’ll elevate your heart rate and burn more calories by not resting between exercises. Want to speed up your metabolism even more? Try what trainer Vern Gambetta calls “circuit plus,” in which you splice aerobic exercise into a circuit of resistance-training moves. Gambetta, who’s the former director of athletic development for the New York Mets, says you’ll burn calories even more rapidly this way because the tag team of aerobic and anaerobic exercise increases the challenge to your heart, lungs, and muscles.
The Workout
This routine conditions all your major muscle groups, with an emphasis on the lower body, which contains more than 50 percent of your body’s muscle mass. Instead of resting between sets, do 30 to 45 seconds of cardio, such as jumping rope, running on a treadmill, or riding a stationary bike.
Don’t be concerned if you can’t use as much weight as you regularly lift. Without rest, your muscles will fatigue faster than usual, but that doesn’t mean you’re getting weaker. In fact, when you switch back to a plan that’s more focused on building size and strength, you’ll see faster gains than ever, because every muscle will be in peak physical condition.
Because this is a full-body plan, start by performing the workout twice a week and work up to three times a week, with at least a day for recovery between workouts.
Week 1
- Create your routine by . . . Picking 1 move from each section (A, B, C, and D)
- Sets of each exercise: 3
- Your total workout should be . . . 12 sets
- Repetitions per set: 12–15
- Speed of each repetition: 1 second up, 3 seconds down
- Rest between sets: None
- Do this workout . . . Twice a week
Week 2
- Create your routine by . . . Performing the 4 moves you didn’t do in week 1
- Sets of each exercise: 3
- Your total workout should be . . . 12 sets
- Repetitions per set: 12–15
- Speed of each repetition: 1 second up, 3 seconds down
- Rest between sets: None
- Do this workout . . . Twice a week
Week 3
- Create your routine by . . . Doing both moves in section A, then in B, C, and D
- Sets of each exercise: 2
- Your total workout should be . . . 16 sets
- Repetitions per set: 12–15
- Speed of each repetition: 1 second up, 3 seconds down
- Rest between sets: None
- Do this workout . . . 2 or 3 times a week
Week 4
- Create your routine by . . . Doing both moves in section A, then in B, C, and D
- Sets of each exercise: 2
- Your total workout should be . . . 16 sets
- Repetitions per set: 15–20
- Speed of each repetition: 1 second up, 3 seconds down
- Rest between sets: None
- Do this workout . . . 2 or 3 times a week
Go on to the next page to see the workouts…
Section A
Deadlift
(quadriceps, gluteals, back, calves, abs)
Stand with a barbell on the floor in front of you, with the bar over your toes. Bend your knees and grasp the bar with an overhand grip, your hands just outside your knees. Keeping your head and back straight, slowly stand up, keeping the bar close to your body as you lift, until your legs are straight. Pause, then slowly lower the bar to the floor.
Watch Your Form:
Avoid rounding your lower back, which increases your risk of a herniated disk.
Video Demo
Single-Leg Bent-Over Row
(back, quadriceps, gluteals, calves, abs)
Stand on one foot holding a pair of dumbbells with your arms hanging down in front of you, and bend forward at the waist until your back is almost parallel to the floor. Now pull the weight in your right hand to the right side of your chest. As you lower it, bring the weight in your left hand to the left side of your chest. Continue alternating arms for a set, then switch legs and repeat.
Watch Your Form: If you can’t maintain balance, try raising and lowering both weights together.
Video Demo
Section B
Ranging-Stance Squat
(quadriceps, gluteals, hamstrings)
Place a barbell across the back of your shoulders and stand with your feet shoulder-width apart. Keeping your back straight, lower your body until your thighs are at least parallel to the floor. Pause, then push yourself back up and repeat the move for one set. Perform the second set with your feet spaced 2 inches wider than shoulder-width apart, then place them another 2 inches apart for the third set.
Watch Your Form: If spreading your feet wide feels awkward, try turning your toes slightly outward before you start your set.
Video Demo
Ratchet Leg Press
(quadriceps, hamstrings, gluteals, calves, hip flexors)
Sit in a leg-press machine with your back against the pad and your feet hip-width apart on the platform. Press the weight up until your legs are straight, knees unlocked. Slowly lower the weight a few inches, pause for a second, then lower it another few inches and pause again. Continue this stop-and-start technique until your legs are bent 90 degrees, then push the weight back up until they’re straight. That’s one repetition.
Watch Your Form: Even though this exercise is part of a fast-paced circuit routine, perform the move slowly.
Video Demo
Section C
Clean and Press
(shoulders, quadriceps, hamstrings, gluteals, triceps, calves)
Stand holding a barbell in front of you, hands and feet shoulder-width apart. Bend your knees slightly and lean forward so the bar hangs just below your knees. Now quickly explode up as if you were jumping and trying to throw the bar overhead. As you rise on the balls of your feet, shrug your shoulders, pull the bar up to shoulder level, and dip down with your knees to “catch” the bar on your shoulders. Press the weight overhead, then return to the starting position.
Watch Your Form: Don’t stop and start between parts of the exercise.
Video Demo
Push Press
(shoulders, quadriceps, hamstrings, gluteals, triceps, calves)
Stand with a barbell across the front of your shoulders, hands slightly wider than shoulder-width apart, elbows pointing forward. (You can load the barbell with more weight than you normally would for a shoulder press.) Bend your knees and lower your body a few inches, then quickly push back up as you thrust the weight overhead. Lower the weight to the front of your shoulders.
Watch Your Form: Use your legs. The momentum you’ll create by squatting should allow you to use heavier weights for bigger results.
Video Demo
Section D
Varied-Level Bench Press
(chest, shoulders, triceps)
Lie on an adjustable weight bench and grab the bar with your hands shoulder-width apart and your feet flat on the floor. Lift the bar off the supports and hold it above your chest. Slowly lower the bar to your chest, then press it up and slightly back. For each additional set, raise the bench one notch (or about a 10- to 15-degree incline).
Watch Your Form: Lower the bar to a point on your chest that’s just above your nipples. If it strays below that spot, it can put too much strain on your rotator-cuff muscles.
Single-Arm Rotational Chest Press
(chest, shoulders, triceps, abs)
Lie on a bench holding a dumbbell in your left hand, next to your chest. Slide your body to the left so your left side hangs off the bench. (Grab the right side of the bench with your right hand for balance.) Press the weight up and lift your left shoulder as high as you can, then lower the weight. Switch positions and use your other hand for the next set.
Watch Your Form: Your shoulder blade can rise off the bench at the top of the move, but keep your head flat against the bench.
