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Fat Torching Conditioning Circuits

Andy Griffiths
Writer and expert6 years ago
View Andy Griffiths's profile

Burn Fat With Conditioning Circuits

If you want to work on your conditioning and burn fat in the process, circuits are one of the most effective ways.

The secret to effective circuits is to set them up in advance in a way that boosts your heart rate and keeps it up for as long as possible while allowing sufficient rest that doesn’t let it drop too much or allow your muscles to stiffen. The next secret is to hit as many muscle groups as you can.

hiit workout

This is for a multitude of reasons. First of all, it ensures an all-over body workout, which means symmetry and strengthening that doesn’t target just one area. Conditioning is about putting your body through the motions in preparation for optimum performance. In the gym when you’re focussing on isolating smaller muscle groups you may be unaware of the stabilising muscles you’ve been neglecting to exercise by using seated exercise machines. By working your body as a whole using circuits you can be more confident these muscles are getting the exercise they need.

Working this way can also be good for your posture. If you’re someone who sits down a lot throughout the day at work, the imbalance of weakened muscles and the selected areas you exercise can leave you hunching over, but by getting all over muscular coverage.

Another reason for hitting all the muscle groups you can is that this required more energy, meaning that you burn off more calories by working more muscle fibres.

overhead squat

Here are 3 highly effective conditioning circuits for your to experiment with:

 

2:1 Intensity Burn

 

The 2:1 ratio is common for high-intensity interval workouts as it means you’re going full throttle and allowing your body the minimal rest it needs. This is ideal if you want a workout that avoids cutting corners and sees you working to the max in a much shorter amount of time if you’re in a rush. As with all circuits, you should feel free to vary the exercises involved – as long as you choose a routine that hits all of your muscles. Here are a few ideas, which you may replace as you see fit:

 

Burpee

Pushups

Lunges

Squat

Pullups

Crunches

Lean Burner Workout

 

This circuit involves weights as well as working with your own bodyweight. For this, you should go from one exercise to the next with 1 minute in between and perform the entire circuit 5 times. For the first round, you should perform 12 reps of each exercise and then reduce by 1 rep for each following round.

Dumbbell bench press

Barbell bent-over row

Pullups

Hang cleans

Jump squats

Push press

best cardio workouts

Heart Racer Circuit

This workout is similar to the last, combining bodyweight, free weights and, this time, a slightly more intense regimen with slightly more strenuous resting allowances. The goal here is to activate as many muscle fibres as you can, which will burn more calories. Due to the reduced sets and shorter rest, you will keep your heart rate up and be racing for the duration. Perform the following list as one round and then repeat 3 times with a 3-minute rest in between each round.

Wide-grip pullups

Bar dips

Close-grip pushups

Alternating bodyweight lunges

Standing barbell press

Crunches

Battle ropes (30 seconds)

Sprint (30 seconds)

 

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Our articles should be used for informational and educational purposes only and are not intended to be taken as medical advice. If you're concerned, consult a health professional before taking dietary supplements or introducing any major changes to your diet.

Andy Griffiths
Writer and expert
View Andy Griffiths's profile
Andy's journey in fitness started during his studies at Leeds Becket University in 2003, working in the university campus gym, he got a taste for a life in fitness. In the past 17 years, he has developed through various roles and has built a detailed experience in developing one-to-one clients, fellow team members and group fitness programmes in mainstream and boutique facilities. Training endurance athletes, martial arts athletes and simply those wanting to build a healthier life, he has built some great experiences and is now in a fantastic position to share what he has learnt with you. Being able to engage beginners into exercise regimes he feels is essential but has the ability and experience to adapt training techniques for those more experienced so everyone learns something new. He strongly feels that if you believe you are capable, you commit to achieving your goals that you will be successful!
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