Take a look on any forum or message board for the calisthenics community and you’ll set the question of circuit training’s practicality come up quite a bit. People mainly want to know if they’re effective for building muscle. But also question it’s applicability to strength specific training as well. Most of the time it is answered with an unanimous and irrevocable “no” without fail. But that isn’t necessarily the case. Today we’ll take a closer look and find out why. What are Circuits?
For those of you who may have been living under a rock until recently, or are just really new to this, circuits a set/rep scheme. Circuits typically involve three or more exercises sequenced together with little to no rest between them. There are a myriad of different ways to structure circuits. From traditional circuits to complexes and everything in between. Some are more optimal than others depending on the training implement or end goal. For the purpose of this article we will be focusing on the best types of bodyweight circuits and when and why they are optimal. Cardio Circuits Cardio circuits are the circuits that almost everyone is familiar with. While technically anything can be cardio when you really get down to it, it does pay to be specific. Typical cardio circuits for bar athletes usually consist of movements such as mountain climbers, burpees, high knees, jumping lunges, and more. While some other, more recognizable movements are often implemented, all of the movements have one thing in common. Which is that they are usually not strength movements. Save for the burpee, which will require considerable strength to pull off for first timers. These movements are movements that will push your cardio endurance to the limit more than it will muscular endurance. Which is why they are the top picks. There are also a plethora of other movements and set ups for cardio circuits. Many of them can be tailored to fit your goals. For instance, I often use combat conditioning circuits where I break up combat drills with burpees between them. This is just one example. You could use various different movements coupled with sport-specific movements and drills to meet your goals. Strength Circuits A rather generic and broad term, strength circuits aren’t really for strength. In fact, this is where I will tell you that circuits are in no way optimal for building relative or absolute strength. Trying to get a one arm pushup? Ditch the circuits. Planche? Ditch the circuits. Back and front lever? Pistol Squat? Ditch those circuits, bro. Circuits are not, nor will they ever be, good for building strength. They are useful for building hypertrophy, though. An excellent way to get a pump. Traditional circuits can easily lead to a dramatic improvement in one’s physique. The combination of hypertrophy work couple with the slight cardio provided through moving from one movement to the next with little to no rest is actually a choice method for many trainers, athletes, and fitness enthusiast to get great results in record timing. If you’re trying to put on size circuits may not be the best method. However, if you’re “skinny fat” or find yourself in need of a recomp then German Body Comp might be the holy grail. Invented by Hala Rambie, a Romanian expat to Germany, it increases lactic acid levels. This subsequently increases Growth Hormone which regulates body fat. This is personally my favorite type of circuit training because it produces rapid results and is actually quite fun. You can do it with bodyweight, barbells, dumbbells, kettlebells, anything really. I would say this is the overall best way to use circuits depending on your goals, because it kills two birds with one stone. However, each style has it’s place. Traditional circuits are ideal for someone who needs to dramatically condense their workout. Whereas a hypertrophy workout using straight sets may take 45 minutes to an hour, setting it up as a circuit could reduce it to 30 or even 15 minutes. If your training split calls for it then it may be optimal to have two or three days dedicated to HIIT using cardio circuits. The two instances where I find this to be most useful are:
In Conclusion Circuits are very practical and applicable to almost anyone. However, let it be clear that it is not suitable for building strength and really nowhere near optimal for hypertrophy. If those are your goals then you should stick to sets and reps. You can’t do everything. This is why periodization is key for any physical culturist and bar athlete. If you’re at the point where you need to build muscle and lose fat in one fell swoop then circuits are for you. If you’re at the point where you need to do some damage control during a bulk or you need to maintain conditioning during a strength phase, then circuits are for you. There is a wealth of information about circuits and the results they produce. As well as different styles for different goals. So give it some thought before you give it your energy. As I explained in the Accelerated Shredding Challenge, not all circuits are created equal. Be sure to choose what’s right for you to make the most of your time and efforts. Yours in Bodyweight Badassery, BarLord Further Reading On Circuits On German Body Comp On HIIT
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Shredded ShamanLifelong athlete and martial artist. I'm on a mission to bring back the good old days of Physical Culture and make this fit lifestyle a lot more enjoyable. Archives
October 2022
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