Thursday, May 15, 2008

Circuit Training

For those of you who are getting bored of your workout regime I have a solution, or at least a suggestion…circuit training!! Circuit training is a total-body workout that involves performing a series of different exercises in one training session; typically alternating between intervals of strength training and cardiovascular exercise. It is a great way to burn calories, get that heart rate going, and tone your muscles all at the same time. By getting your weights and your cardio in at once, this is a definite time saver, another bonus. I’ve done this workout several times in the past few weeks and I really like it. I’m not much of a sweater, but for some reason by the time I’m done with the circuit I’ve been dripping! So…Grab a jump rope, some dumbbells, and your Ipod…and give it a shot. J

Jump Rope Circuit

So the Key here is you want to keep your heart rate up the whole time, so don’t stop to rest for too long. Try to move from one thing to the next pretty quickly and if you need to breath walk around too keep the HR going. You can use a timer if you’d like for your jump rope sequences, but I just use my Ipod and estimate it by song length.

Round #1
Warm up Jump Rope 1 song (3-4 min)
Pushups 1 set of 15-20
Balancing Bicep Curls with dumbbells (stand on one foot to increase difficulty)
Plyometric Lunges 1 set of 15 (total of 30)
*with these start down in a lunge, and jump up switch legs in the air and land down in a lunge on the other leg. This counts as 1 rep.

Round #2 (Repeating round #1)
Jump Rope 1 song (3-4 min)
Pushups 1 set of 15-20
Balancing Bicep Curls switch legs this time
Plyometric Lunges 1 set of 15 (total of 30)

Round #3 (Repeating round #1)
Jump Rope 1 song (3-4 min)
Pushups 1 set of 15-20
Balancing Bicep Curls switch legs this time (switch legs ½ way through)
Plyometric Lunges 1 set of 15 (total of 30)

Round #4
Jump Rope 1 song (3-4 min)
At the end of the song do 30 straight jumps jumping as high and as fast as you can1
1 set of 3 way lunges w/10 lb dumbbells (alternating front lunge 10, alternating side squat 10, alternating back lunge 10)
Plank for 1:30

Round #5
Jump rope 1 Song (3-4 min)
Again 30 straight jumps as high and fast as you can
1 set of 3 way lunges w/10 lb dumbbells (alternating front lunge 10, alternating side squat 10, alternating back lunge 10)
Plank 1:30
Jump rope finish 1 song (4 min)

AB Circuit
Sit down Hold 10 lb dumbbell, lift your feet up of the ground and twist side to side (15 to each side)
30 regular crunches
30 crunches with elbows to knees
*repeat this as many times as you want
You’re done!

6 comments:

The Smith Clan said...

Megan, Thanks for a new curcuit routine. I get so bored! I will tyr this soon! Thank You Mom

Becky @ Project Domestication said...

meg this looks awesome. i love jump roping. Just one thing, do you recommend a rope? I have one but left it in Utah for the spring.

i'm loving your blog!

Muncher Cruncher said...

Becky - I LOVE your blog too :) I've told a bunch of people to check it out.
As far as jumpropes go you can get a cheap one for as little as $5 at any walmart or Target, BUT I would reccommend a leather jump rope. They aren't that much more and they make life a LOT easier! Jump roping is hard enough as it is...to add a rope that is constantly tripping you up makes it a lot harder. Here is one that I like. http://www.everlast.com/everlast-leather-jump-rope.html

McKenzie said...

I tried the jump rope circuit and about died! I've been running quite a bit and thought I was in okay shape, but this kicked my butt! Thanks for the great work-out though. I will keep trying!!

The Smith Clan said...

Hey Megs, I just did your circuit workout and loved it! Thanks

Jesse and Alysha Lanham said...

Doing this today! Thanks for such great workout ideas :)