I woke up one morning this past March and realized something important: I was fat. More than merely having put some serious chunk in my trunk (as well as on my hips, thighs, arms and, well, everywhere), I was sincerely unfit. This troubled me because I once was in elite shape and because I now felt like a marshmallow. I also looked like one. It wasn't pretty.
Now, six weeks after that horrible epiphany, I've lost over twelve pounds and almost six inches. I'm fitting into pants that I've not seen the inseams of in two years. I'm able to do almost 40 push-ups without stopping. My heart no longer goes tachycardiac when I run up a few flights of stairs. I'm rocking some very pretty muscles. I feel healthier, prettier, perkier and firmer. And it's pretty much all due to my four-day-a-week schedule at the gym doing circuit training.
I'm not the kind of person who generally waxes enthusiastic about workout routines. They are, to me, a necessary banality. Going to the gym is about on the same level as flossing my teeth: boring, painful, inelegant and unavoidable. I write this confession as context for my unabashed cheering for circuit training, a system of exercises that make you work out rigorously, quickly, efficiently and-this is most important-make you do it almost without your noticing.
Discover your circuit
If you've ever trained for a sports team by doing a combination of wind sprints, sit-ups, push-ups, and squat thrusts, you've circuit trained. Simply explained, circuit training mixes bursts of intense cardio with resistance training, allowing either no rest or very limited rest in between exercises. A circuit can be an extended set of revolving exercises like pull-ups, squats, and push-ups, or it can be several sets of groups of different exercises in order to target specific muscle groups. A full training session usually lasts between 20-40 minutes and includes cardio, strength and abdominal exercises. In general, circuit training works your body to exhaustion over and over again, but in very brief increments. The really good thing to remember about circuit training is that if something really sucks, it's still over quickly.
How it makes you fitter than fit
Also called interval training and cross training, circuit training contains all of the chewy goodness of a regular workout, and none of the fluffy filler. A really good circuit contains exercises for your cardiovascular system and resistance training for your muscles, as well as some exercises, like stair-stepping, plyometrics or quick squats, that do both. The beauty of circuit training is that it is infinitely flexible. You can use gym equipment like free-weights and treadmills, but you can also use the great outdoors in the form of hills, benches, steps, jungle gyms or your own body weight. You can also adapt your home fitness equipment like resistance bands and trampolines. Moreover, you can make your circuit what you need it to be for your level of fitness, your sports interest, or your fitness goal. If you build it, you will grow.
The science behind the circuit
Circuit training's ever-adaptable nature means that neither your mind nor your body will get bored. Should you get bored, you change what you do. Circuit training's fewer rest periods allow your body to release more testosterone, which makes your muscles grow more quickly. It also raises your metabolism both by burning more calories than traditional workouts and by building muscle tissue. In fact, recent studies show that circuit training is more effective than conventional training in building muscle and burning fat-especially for women. Add all of these benefits together with the timesaving aspect, and it's hard to see the downside.
How to get circuitous
Of course, as with any fitness enterprise, you want to get your doctor's thumbs up before embarking. Once you have, you're ready to make the circuit of your dreams. Many gyms have circuit training classes. Often, these classes comprise six to ten stations, and after a warm-up, the instructor divides the class into sections to spend an allotted time at a station (usually a minute), then everyone rotates to the next station. Sometimes these classes have themes like boxing, kickboxing, or body sculpting. You don't have to join the group, however, if-like Groucho Marx-you wouldn't be part of any group who would have you.
It's very easy to follow circuits you might find online, in books or on DVDs. It's also very easy to devise your own. You need only come up with a reasonable array of exercises, a plan and a stopwatch. If you have these things, and a bit of devotion, you're ready to go. Just remember, if you hate something you're doing, it's over soon, and you don't have to do it again for another few days.
Where to find circuit city
Just Googling "circuit training" will lead you to a dizzying number of pre-fab workouts. You can pick and choose the ones that seem to work for you. But if you're the kind of person who likes to have authority figures, check out books and DVDs by Jillian Michaels, the trainer from NBC's The Biggest Loser, whose circuits are reasonable, adaptable and effective. And if Ms. Michaels isn't your style, there are thousands of books and DVDs on Amazon from trainers as diverse as Billy Blanks and the Royal Marines. You can also access CrossFit (www.crossfit.com), a network of cross-training pros bare-bones, no-nonsense approach strips circuit training to its most essential, if most grueling. No matter what approach works for you, it's out there.
If you're still not sold on the power and glory of circuit training, I'll say that not only have I lost over two pounds a week, regained the ability to do multiple push-ups and increased my cardio fitness measurably, but I've done it at the age of 46. I'm no kid; my metabolism has slowed; I injure easily. Six weeks in, I'm going strong, and I know that as I continue, I'll be going stronger. You can too, if you embrace the simple perfection of the sweaty, huffing, ouch-my-legs-hurt, no-more-push-ups-I'm-going-to-die circuit. Nothing's holding you back but yourself.
