Before starting any circuit training workout, make sure to read up on how to prevent workout injuries. That way you won’t have to go through the year of surgery and casts that I have! It’s not any fun.
After a really rough year last year, one positive thing I noticed is how much I took for granted being able to be active. When you are overweight, you always assume you aren’t “active enough” Being out of commission for a year, I realized that isn’t the case at all! I had a lot of muscle on my body, and right now I am working to build that muscle back up.
Did you know that muscle burns up to as much as 2 times as many calories as fat? That means if you weigh the same as your friend, but you have more muscle mass you burn those pesky calories more than your friend. (This is a REALLY oversimplified version) What does that mean to you? You need to get moving! You need to build those muscles.
This circuit training workout is a low impact workout, which is great for those beginning to workout or trying to get back on the horse, like I am! It may seem simple enough, but trust me your heart will be pumping and you are bound to feel sore the next morning. (Is it crazy that I actually missed my muscles being sore?)
This workout takes about 30 minutes including warm up and cool down. I use one of my favorite CDs Now That’s What I Call Music 44 to get my workout going! It’s a great mix of fast and slow songs to mock interval training.
For this workout, you only need a few basic items
- Handheld weights
- Resistance Bands of varying strength
Here are some brief descriptions of each part of the workout:
- Warm up: Anything you choose. I like doing some basic yoga stretches to get my body warmed up.
- Leg Lifts: Place a tied resistance band around your ankles. Lift your legs to the front, side, and back. Complete 20 times each on both legs.
- Boxing: Let your inner boxer out! It doesn’t matter what you do, just box to the music! Challenge yourself to box faster during the faster parts of the song.
- Upper Body: Show those muscles. With your hand weights, do various arm exercises. This could be overhead presses, tricep extensions, bicep curls. Change it up!
- Abdominals: Work on those squishy spots. Do lower leg abs, crunches, full sit ups. Changing it up keeps your muscles guessing.
- Stair Step Ups and Squats: Step up one stair 20 times, and then do 20 squats. Do 2 sets
- Wall pushups: Do sets of wall pushups. Stop when you really start to burn, but try not to rest more than 45 seconds between sets.
- Hamstring curls: Lie on your stomach on a yoga mat. Place resistance bands around your ankles, and extend your leg and curl at the knee. You should feel this in your hamstring.
- Cool Down: Stretch places you want to become more flexible, or just use this time to cool down your body with deep breathing.
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