This Morning’s Circuit Workout

The more I chat to you guys the more it seems there’s a bit of a common theme when it comes to exercise. You want to know more about the best styles for getting lean, you’d like some new ideas, and you’re sick of feeling like you don’t really know what to do in the gym. Fair enough. It might take me a while, but eventually I do get the message, and the message seems to be that even though you love the nutrition, lifestyle and motivational posts I seem to be losing you a bit on the training side of things. I have to admit I started this blog with little intent of including a lot of workout-related stuff, and the reason for that is I feel many people rely too heavily on exercise when (in my opinion) nutrition and mindset have a greater influence over your success.

But I guess there’s no reason we can’t all be happy, so maybe it’s time for a change. I trust you’ll continue to enjoy my regular posts along with the occasional addition in the form of a training program. I’m going to keep it really simple for now, very much a quick’n’ rough overview of what I consider to be a great session. For the most part I’ll just be giving you a sample from my own training. I realize that this doesn’t take into account different fitness levels, and I won’t be offering regressions or progressions, but you’ll find that my style of training is easily adapted simply by lowering or increasing weights and/or rest time.

Most of the workouts require at least basic gym equipment, but they’ll all include exercises that are easily done at home with your own body weight, some dumbells, a swissball and maybe a theraband. It’s fine to leave out one or two exercises if they sound too tricky or you just need to cut back on time. Most of these workouts require you to have basic exercise knowledge, although you will be able to learn from them along the way. I’ll start adding photos in the future, but I forgot to take them this morning. I trust my explanations will suffice in the meantime!

Today’s Workout: Full Body Circuit

Great for boosting your metabolism first thing, maintaining strength, increasing power, building aerobic and anaerobic fitness, and working up the finest damn sweat your gym has ever seen. Up to you to figure out the weights!

Part One

1. 15 x cable squat pulls – set up the cables with a rope at the bottom level, or fasten a theraband to the floor. Hold one end in each hand. Squat full depth and explode up, pulling the ends of the rope/band back at shoulder height in a row movement. Elbows should come right back. Straighten out your arms again as you begin the next rep.

2. 24 x alternate cable wood chops – Set the cables/theraband up high, still use the rope to save time. Chop from high to low, using rotation through your torso.

3. 12 x spider push-ups – Bring one knee up into your armpit as you go down. Alternate sides.

3. 20 x dumbell swing lunges – Start with straight arms, dumbell in each hand, and explosively swing the dumbells into the air as you lunge. Alternate legs, controlling the descent of the weights by bending your arms.

Repeat 3 times round, with as little rest as possible between rounds.

Part Two

1. 15 x jumping chin-ups – jump from a squat position and pull yourself up as high as you can before jumping down, landing with best knees. It’s best to go straight into the next rep, as you’ll generate power from the last.

2. 12 x swissball jacknifes – put your feet on top of the ball, hands on the floor in a push-up position. Keep your spine straight and pull the ball in toward your body by bending your knees toward your chest. Take 3 counts to bring the ball in and 3 to bring it out.

3. 12 each leg x 1-leg barbell dead lifts – Hold the bar close to your thigh as you bend forward on one leg (bend at both knee and hip). Let the other leg go up high behind you as you bend forward. Once the bar reaches knee level come back up again.

Repeat 3 times round, rest as little as possible

Part Three

1. 15 x dumbell swing squats straight into 15 x dumbell squat press – Hold the weight between both hands, and swing it up fast with straight arms (to head height) as you come out of each squat. Squat press is done holding the weight between both hands at chest height, press on the way up.

2. Two minute bridge brace – Hold yourself on feet and flat hands, keep your shoulder forward over your hands, your spine straight.

Repeat 3 times, no rest.

Total workout time should be 45 minutes – this may mean you have to leave off the last part of the workout if you need more rest. It’s best not to go past 45 minutes as you start to release cortisol, which causes a hormonal fat-storing response. Click here to learn more about correcting hormonal imbalance and losing weight that you thought you were stuck with.

Enjoy! And don’t forget to comment on how you go 🙂

Disclaimer: As with all exercise programs, you must check with your doctor or health practitioner before beginning a new exercise program, and if you don’t feel confident performing the exercises safely then don’t do them. If you’re new to training it’s best to consult with a Personal Trainer for one on one advice. This program is designed for those with an existing exercise background, and does not account for individual requirements or injuries. No liability is taken by Kat Eden for any injury, illness or incident sustained by following this program.

 

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