Warm up:

Spend 5-10 minutes warming up with some gently cardio such as skipping, shadow boxing, S.A.Q drills etc.

Circuit:

Bear crawl with bag pull.

Bear crawl backwards while dragging the bag alternating which hand you use.

Sprawl to clean and press.  

Place the bag on the floor and perform a sprawl before jumping back up and doing one clean and press before repeating.

Knee ride switch.

Start in the knee ride position with one knee on the bag and one off. Switch from side to side as fast as possible.

Explosive walk over’s.

Start with both hands on the bag, drop one hand onto the floor and perform a press up before exploding back over the bag and repeating on the opposite side.

Side jumps.

Perform a 2 footed side jump over the bag landing softly by bending the knees on impact. Repeat as quickly as possible whilst maintaining good technique.

At the end of your 3-5 rounds spend 5 minutes cooling down before stretching.

Clean and press:

Hold the bag by the handles and tip forward slightly from the hips so the bag hangs around level with your knees. From here stand up and pull your elbows up high bringing the bag to chest height. Flip the bag over your hands so it rests on your upper arms. As you do this bend your knees and sit your bottom back before driving the bag over your head by straightening your arms and legs. Return to the start position and repeat.

Bicycle oblique twists: Start with your legs in the air and knees bent. Twist your elbow across the body towards the opposite knee while extending the other leg out. Repeat to the opposite side and then count this as 1 rep. 

Shoulder squat: Hold the bag in the middle and rest it over one shoulder. From here perform a basic squat, once you have completed the desired number of reps switch the bag onto the other shoulder and repeat.

Walk over press up: Start with both hands on the bag in a press up position. Take one hand off and place it on the floor by the side of the bag. Perform a press up and then push yourself back onto the bag before repeating on the opposite side.

Jump squat: Squat down and touch the floor before exploding up and jumping into the air reaching up as you do so. Land soft and then repeat.

Bent over row/upright row combo: Hold the bag by the handles and tip forward at the hips whilst maintaining a flat back. Perform a bent over row by pulling the bag into your stomach before immediately standing up and doing an upright row by pulling the bag to chest height keeping your elbows higher than the bag. This counts as 1 rep.

Double leg squat thrust: From a press up position jump both your knees into your body before jumping them back out to the start position.

Aims: For this challenge I would recommend women start off with a 7.5-10kg bag and for men 15-20kg. Your first target should be to get under 25 minutes. If you can get your time much less than 20 minutes then look at increasing the weight of the bag.

Don’t forget if you enjoy (if that is the right word!) challenges then contact me for your free copy of my e-book “Big book of fitness challenges”. In it you will find 30 different challenges for you to have a go at.

Warm up:

For this session we started off with some S.A.Q (speed, agility and quickness) using a mixture of cone drills,

1 In: Jog through the cones placing 1 foot in each gap

Lateral jogging: Jog sideways through the cones placing both feet in each gap

2 In: Jog through the cones placing 2 feet in each gap

Weaving: Weave in and out through the cones

2 Footed diagonal hops: Start on the right hand side of the first cone and jump forward 2 footed to the next cone landing on the left hand side. Continue jumping diagonally from cone to cone landing soft each time by bending the knees on impact.

Side crawls: From a press-up position crawl sideways through the cones by moving the same hand and same leg. Aim to maintain a flat back throughout.

Each exercise was completed for 30 seconds and the circuit was performed twice through for a total of 5 minutes. In between rounds there was a 1 minute rest.

Round 1 Upper body:

Recline rows

Sledgehammer strikes onto tyre

Medicine ball strikes onto bag (Standing at arms length from a punch bag. Hold a heavy med ball in both hands and rapidly tap the bag. After each strike against the bag bring the ball back and tap your stomach. This exercise will help to improve the stamina in your forearms, which can benefit a fighter when it comes to grappling and clinching. It also gives your abdominals some impact training).

Walk over press-ups on low step 

Dumbbell punches

Round 2 Lower body:

Medicine ball jump squats

Knee strikes onto prone bag (place one knee onto a punch bag on the floor with the other leg extended back. Drive your free leg into the bag striking it with your knee. Then switch legs placing your striking knee onto the bag and throwing the strike with opposite side).

Box jumps

Powerbag alternating leg front lunge

Jump lunges

Round 3 cardio:

For this round we performed 3 exercises and completed 3 circuits. The first exercise we did a different version on each circuit.

Version 1: 3 punch combo with sprawl

We threw a jab; cross and lead hook onto the focus pads followed by 1 sprawl.

Version 2: 3 punch combo with shoot

Same punch combo and then the guys would shoot in for a takedown and grab me around the legs and lift me off the ground before stepping back and repeating.

Version 3: Alternate between sprawls and shoots

Throw the 3-punch combo and alternate between a sprawl and a shoot after the punches.

Resistance band ground and pound: From the mount position they threw continuous punches while holding a heavy-duty resistance band that was hung from the wall. 

Lateral jumps over kick-shield: Stand next to a kick-shield that’s stood on it’s side and perform a 2 footed side jump over it aiming to land soft by bending the knees on impact.

At the end of the 3 rounds we finished with a punch out drill.

Punch out drill:

We stood an upright Powerbag against the punch bag so that it hung at a slight angle. The aim then was for each guy to perform 20 seconds of continuous jab, crosses to keep the punch bag from touching the Powerbag. Any time the 2 bags touched then rather than having the 20-second rest period they had to perform 5 burpees with a press-up at the bottom and a vertical jump as they stood up.

At the end of this we cooled down and stretched.

We warmed up using a mixture of medicine ball exercises such as swings, rotations and lunges with rotations alongside bodyweight movements such as press-up with rotation. The main workout consisted of the following exercises.

Deadlift

Powerbag squat

Barbell push press

Superset: Alternating arm kettlebell floor press with Press-up to knee strikes on floor bag.

 Underhand grip recline rows

Core superset:

For today’s session we focused on 2 rotational movements that would not only work the core but also help to improve punching power.

Standing weight plate rotations

Medicine ball Russian twists with chest pass (For this exercise Marlon got into a position to do a Russian twist and I stood in front of him. I threw the ball to Marlon, alternating the height and direction each time. Each time Marlon would catch it and then perform a twist on each side before throwing the ball back to me. The aim was for Marlon to keep his lower body as still as possible, maintain a straight back and not lose his balance.)

For our next session we will start to bring in more power-based exercises such as jump squats, plyometric press-ups, sledgehammer strikes etc.

Medicine balls: 1-7kg

 TRX:

Kettlebells: 4-24kg

Powerbags: 7.5-25kg

Boxing equipment: Punch bags, focus pads, gloves, kick shield

Resistance bands:

Free weights: Large selection of dumbbells, barbells and weight plates

Cardio equipment: x-trainer, spin cycle, rower

Slosh pipe: Large pipe filled with water that’s great for core training

Sledgehammers and tyres:

: 

Sam will be quick to admit that he often finds it hard to motivate himself and gets bored easily. Because of this I decided to get away from his usual way of training, which was to spend at least an hour in the gym training 1-2 muscle groups per session. Instead we would focus on high intensity circuit training as this would help to keep his heart rate up (so we can rediscover his six-pack) and the time spent in the gym down. We would base sessions around compound barbell exercises such as clean and presses; deadlifts and rows etc as well as kettlebell; powerbag and TRX work.

In the video we are finishing off a 4-exercise circuit that involves barbell clean and press. Single hand kettlebell swings, powerbag bent over rows and explosive press-ups. Sam completed 10 reps on each exercise and we did 4 circuits in total. At the end of this and once Sam had got his breath back we finished the session off with some abdominal work. 3 supersets of medicine ball V-ups and Russian twists followed by 3 sets of TRX rotational Jack-knifes did the trick.

1. : 

I will be posting more of Sam’s workouts over the next 8 weeks and a sample of the diet he has been following. At the end of the 8weeks we will post some photos of the results.

Cardio:  Pick from equipment such as treadmills, rowers, cycles etc.

Bodyweight: Ideal for home use.

Kettlebells: Try the kettlebell 660 challenge or create or own.

Powerbag: The 10 minute Powerbag challenge is one of the most popular at the Resuls studio and now you can create your own to rival it.

TRX: Create a challenge using the effective suspension trainer.

Free weights:  Try the 300 barbell challenge or create your own.

MMA Conditioning: I use challenges at the end of my MMA conditioning circuits. Create one here using a mixture of punch bags, plyometrics and sport specific movements.

Current fitness level: Beginner, intermediate, advanced.

Challenge length: 5 – 60 minutes.

Circuit training is basically a combination of resistance training alongside high intensity aerobic work. The aim is to move between one exercise to the next (often referred to as “stations”) with little or no rest in between. At the end of all the exercises within the circuit you would take a short rest and then start again from the beginning. Circuits are often made up of around 8-12 exercises spending around 40 seconds-1 minute on each one and the entire circuit would normally be completed 3 times through although this can be changed to suit the individuals needs and fitness levels. Below are my top 6 reasons for including circuit training into your routine.

1: It does not take long.

Many people still feel that they need to be in the gym for at least an hour especially if they are doing cardio and resistance training alongside each other, 20-30 minutes of aerobic training and then at least the same amount of time doing weights. Because circuit training combines the 2 together and is performed with little or no rest, you can complete an effective session in as little as 30 minutes including warm up and cool down.

2: You do not need much equipment.

You can have a very effective training session using minimal kit and even with just your own body weight. This means you can do it at home or at the gym during peak time when a lot of the equipment will be taken.

3: It can help to keep you interested.

When it comes to cardio training many people will spend 30 minutes or so plodding away on a piece of equipment such as the cycle or cross-trainer for example. After a few weeks of doing this boredom can easily set in which is one of the main reasons people give up the gym/exercise (also this form of exercise is not always the best way to reduce body fat but that’s for another post!). With circuit training you are continuously changing exercises and only spending a minute or so on each one. You can also mix up your circuit from session to session by simply changing the order of exercises or using different exercises altogether.

4: It works everything.

Within a circuit session not only are you going to get your heart and lungs really working but with the right exercise selection you can work all your major muscle groups.

5: It is effective.

From teaching endless number of circuit classes and using circuit training within my personal training sessions and my own workouts I have seen first hand how effective this form of training is especially for stripping away body fat and improving muscle definition. By mixing cardio and resistance training together it means you will keep your heart rate elevated throughout the session. So while you are doing a resistance exercise your body is still burning away the fat.

6: It is suitable for all fitness levels.

You can tailor circuit training to any fitness level by simply changing some of the variables such as exercise selection, time or reps per exercise and changing the length of the rest periods.

SAMPLE WORKOUTS:

Below are a few sample workouts that you can try either on your own or with a group of friends.

Warm up:

Make sure you always spend 5-10 minutes warming the body up before starting your session. This can be done by doing some gently cardio on a piece of equipment like the cycle or rower etc. If these are not available to you or fancy a more specific warm up for your circuit try the following.

Mobility exercises: Begin with exercises such as arm swings, shoulder rolls. Knee rolls etc to help mobilise your joints

Bodyweight movements: Doing these exercises can help prepare your body for your resistance training by doing some of the movements you will be using within the main workout. Use exercises such as prisoner squats, front lunges, side lunges, floor bridges, superman’s etc.

Pulse raiser: These exercises will help to raise your heart rate and increase your core temperature. Try exercises such as jumping jacks, high knees, scissors etc.

Basic circuit:

A basic circuit format would be to pick an exercise that works your upper body, lower body, core and heart and lungs. The following 8-exercise circuit uses this format with each exercise being done for 1 minute.

Upper body: Press-up

Lower body: Dumbbell squats

Core: Crunch

Cardio: Burpees

Upper body: Bent over rows

Lower body: Front lunges

Core: Plank

Cardio: Squat thrusts

Repeat the circuit x2-3

Basic circuit 2:

This circuit uses machines found in most gyms/health clubs and mixes doing exercises for reps and time. For the resistance exercises try and pick a weight that will challenge you for 12 reps.

Upper body: Chest press machine x12 reps

Lower body: Leg press x12

Core: Hanging leg raises x12

Cardio: Rowing machine 500 metres in your quickest time.

Upper body: Lat pulldown x12

Lower body: Leg curl machine x12

Core: Swiss ball crunch x12

Cardio: Treadmill 0.8 km in your quickest time.

Repeat the circuit x2-3

Bodyweight circuit:

Ideal if you’re training at home or at peak time at the gym. Aim to complete 1 minute on each exercise.

Press-ups

Single leg squats (30 seconds per leg)

Oblique twists

Burpees

Close hand press-ups

Jump lunges

Reverse crunch

Squat jumps

Repeat x2-3

3-station circuit:

This is a circuit I used within my class and works well with larger groups but is just as good with small numbers or on your own. The circuit is split into 3 stations, Upper body, lower body and cardio. In each station there are 3 exercises done for 1 minute each. Once you have done the 3-minute station move to the next.

Upper body:

Press-ups

Dumbbell shoulder press

Bench dips

Lower body:

Dumbbell squat

Dumbbell reverse lunge

Dumbbell side lunge

Cardio:

Star jumps

High knees

Squat jumps

In between stations you could do a core exercise for 1 minute.

Repeat the entire circuit x2-3

Step box circuit:

This circuit requires a step box, barbell and a selection of weight plates and a mat.

Spend 1 minute on each exercise.

Bench press

Step-ups

Burpees

Barbell squat

V-ups

Box jumps

Clean and press

Weight plate Russian twists

Bench dips

Straddle jumps

Repeat x2-3

Video workout

 Here is a sample of a circuit I did with one of my clients. Exercises used are hammer strikes on tyre, powerbag clean and press, lateral jumps over bag, ground and pound on floor bag, press-ups and punch and kick combinations on punch bag.

Members:

If you are a member of this site and fancy trying a personalised circuit workout then simply drop me an e-mail. Let me know your aims and goals, equipment available to you, length of time for session and exercise history. I will then put together your own circuit plan including exercise descriptions, technique advice and regressions and progressions and send it over to you. If you are not yet a member then SIGN UP today to receive your circuit plan and see what this type of training can do for you

Regressions: If you find the circuit tough to start with then try some of these regressions.

: Instead of the v-up perform a basic crunch.

: Do basic press ups instead of walk over.

: Keep your heels on the floor for the Russian twists.

: Keep your legs in the air when you do the kettlebell double crunch.

: Perform burpees without the press up and jump.