By the healthiergang writer Christian Calderone, athlete, graduate in Nursing Sciences and student in Sports Sciences.
Circuit Training: Vantaggi
Circuit Training means the union of workouts with aerobic and anaerobic exercises with the use of overloads.
This type of training produces a multitude of advantages that ideally embrace the practical needs of today's man. In fact, it allows you to easily achieve optimal physical stimulation in a reduced training time.
In addition to the intuitive practical advantages, thanks to these methods it will be possible to obtain the following results:
✔ decrease in the percentage of fat mass;
✔ increase in trophy and muscle tone;
✔ raising the aerobic threshold;
✔ increase in systolic range;
✔ stabilization in the optimal range of blood pressure.
In addition to the athletic / health benefits, the following benefits can also be obtained:
✔ freedom not to be tied to rigid schedules to carry out the training;
✔ less effort in carrying out daily gestures;
✔ improvements in a short time with increased confidence in one's own possibilities.
There are various models of circuit training that can be used according to needs and goals. The most popular are listed below.
Circuits
#1 Cardio fit training (CFT)
The CFT combines aerobic-cardiovascular training in a single session and that with the use of overloads and strength machines for the various muscle groups. The main features of this type of circuit training are:
✔ continuous training for a total of 25-30 minutes;
✔ alternation of exercises high intensity with the use of weights and low intensity aerobic exercises;
✔ stimulation of all the main body areas, both higher and lower.
Un practical example of CFT could be: 5 minutes of treadmill followed by 3 exercises for the lower limbs of 12-15 repetitions and 2 of the abdomen of 15-20 repetitions; again 5 minutes of treadmill followed this time by 3 exercises for the upper limbs of 12-15 repetitions and 2 of the abdomen of 15-20 repetitions and finish with 10 minutes of exercise bike, all without a break.
The duration of the training is limited but already sufficient to obtain a good stimulation for the whole body. For those who have a longer period of time available, it is possible customize the circuit by increasing the stay in the low intensity stations (aerobic), perform the high intensity stations twice in a row before moving on to the next aerobic station, or repeat the entire circuit a second time.
#2 Cardio PHA training
Cardio PHA training consists in the execution of one or more circuits that differ from the CFT in the order in which the various body districts must be trained. This method in fact provides the stimulate areas of the body as far as possible from each other. For example, we will first perform an exercise for the lower limbs and immediately afterwards an exercise for the upper limbs.
This training strategy is much more intense than the classic CFT, as it requires a notable cardiac work to suddenly pump and redistribute the blood flow in different parts of the body and located at the different body extremities.
The results that can be obtained with PHA are appreciable both at the cardiovascular level and at the level of body fat reduction, as a marked increase in basal metabolic rate is induced in the post-exercise hours.
PHA is also very interesting and effective for women, as it allows rapid blood reflux from bottom to top and prevents excessive stagnation in these areas of lactic acid, toxins and catabolites, counteracting circulatory problems and cellulite.
#3 Anaerobic-Aerobic System
This type of training mostly meets the women's needs, as the same, in general, have as their main objective to tone the upper part of the body and to streamline the lower part as much as possible (waist, hips, buttocks and thighs).
THEAnaerobic-Aerobic System it is nothing more than a classic traditional workout (series interspersed with recovery pauses) for the upper body, combined with circuit training for the lower body and waistline. In this way, not only are the requests of female users satisfied but also a work of considerable effectiveness is carried out.
On average a circuit of this type should last from 40 to 50 minutes, but depending on your level of training you can increase the workload by progressing either on the increase of loads and / or series in the first part of the sheet, or by increasing the time spent in the aerobic stations.
It is also possible to reverse the order of execution between the upper and lower part of the body. Starting from the anaerobic phase a part of the muscle glycogen stores will be depleted, making it possible to enter lipid oxidation more quickly in the aerobic phase. Starting from the aerobic phase on the other hand, there is no risk of causing an excessive production of lactic acid, whose excessive contractions inhibit lipolysis.
In terms of results, however, it seems that at medium-high intensity it is more effective to place the toning part first and then the cardiovascular part.
#4 Spot Reduction
The Spot Reduction method allows you to act on weight loss by favoring it in some parts of the body rather than others. This training method is based on the principle that by inserting specific exercises for the affected area within a circuit with aerobic machinery it is possible to obtain a thinning of the skin fold of that area.
In practice, even if the decrease in adipose tissue is a largely generalized phenomenon, it seems possible to increase this thinning in the areas involved in the exercises carried out within the circuit.
# 5 ATA (Aerobic Aerobic Toning)
This method is based on some studies that have shown that an activity that alternates 20 'of cardio, 20' of weights and 20 'of cardio is more effective for weight loss, both in terms of total fat loss and in a more uniform loss of the folds, a workout with 40 'of cardio and 20' of weights or with 20 'of weights and 40' of cardio.
This circuit can be customized to your liking by varying the intensity of the cardio phases and their duration and the type of work with weights and machinery.
