Blast 500 Calories Fast With This At-Home Circuit Workout

Circuit training workouts are notorious for being some of the most intense workouts ever. They [...]

By Jen Casperson

Circuit training workouts are notorious for being some of the most intense workouts ever. They often combine heavy lifting and high-intensity cardio, giving you as much bang for your buck as you can manage. And even though circuit workouts are tough, what's great about them is that they're short and sweet. After all, at that level of intensity, going for a long period of time is too physically demanding for most people and may do greater harm than good.

What some people might not know about the workouts, aside from their brevity, is that you don't necessarily have to go to a gym or workout facility to experience it. In fact, you can do some of them right in your own home. Try the workout video above or these CrossFit exercises below from your living room this week.

Circuit training workouts vary, but many popular styles are about doing specific moves for as many rounds as possible (AMRAP).

AMRAPs: With an AMRAP, you are given specific exercises to do in a given period of time — usually 30 minutes or less. The goal is to do as many rounds of them as you can in the allotted time. Give one (or a few) of the following a try.

1. AMRAP for 20 minutes:

15 kettlebell swings, 10 mountain climbers per leg, 5 thrusters (dumbbells or kettlebell)

crossfit workout kettlebell swings mountain climbers and thrusters

2. AMRAP for 8 minutes:

16 sumo deadlift high-pulls, 10 goblet squats, 8 burpees

crossfit workout of sumo deadlift high pulls, goblet squats, and burpees prevnext

3. AMRAP for 20 minutes:

30 box jumps, 20 push presses, 30 burpees

crossfit workout of box jumps, push presses, and burpees

4. AMRAP for 5 minutes:

5 wall balls, 5 burpees

crossfit workout of wall balls and burpeesprevnext

5. AMRAP for 30 minutes:

15 pushups, half-mile run, 15 burpees,15 sit-ups, 15 burpees

crossfit workout of running, push ups, sit ups, and burpees

If you're looking at these and thinking they'll be easy since they're short, you'll quickly realize that's not the case here. The kicker is that because they are short, you need to go hard and heavy. That means lifting, swinging or squatting with heavier weight so that each time you do it, you're really feeling it.

You do have some breathing room during AMRAPs, so take short breaks when you need them, but try to keep them to a minimum. Overall though, be sure you're keeping perfect form; never sacrifice form for speed, especially if you're using heavy weights.

Finally, because these workouts are so intense, you may want to either do them at the end of your workout or simply as your actual workout. These workouts come at the end of skill and strength work while you still have energy, so keep that in mind. If you're weight training, this would be a perfect way to end the session. Short on time? These are perfect since they're so quick.

Just remember: It's about intensity and pushing yourself. So don't be afraid to give it 110 percent. It's only a few minutes, right?

prev
0comments
Start the Conversation

of