Circuit Training – The Warm Up Phase
The circuit training comprises of three phases. It starts with a warm up phase followed by a strengthening circuit and a cooling down phase towards the end. You can vary the intensity and duration of each phase depending on your mood or to suit the time available to you.
The Warm Up Phase: This phase can be extended, especially when it is cold. Increase the number of repetitions for each exercise. Do not go into the main circuit till such time that you fell warmed up and ready. More
The Main Circuit: This is made out in a manner that you start exercising from one end of the body to the other in a progressive manner. In this case, starting from the legs and the lower body and moving on to the upper body and arms. By the time you finish the last exercise of the circuit, the legs are rested. So you can repeat the circuit in the same manner. The exercises have to be done in a continuous manner without any rest in between. Take a break only at the end of the circuit for two to three minutes before starting on the next circuit. The degree of difficulty of the workout can be altered in three ways:
1. By increasing or decreasing the number of circuits: This will also increase or decrease the cardio-respiratory content of the workout.
2. By increasing the number of repetitions of each exercise: Increasing the number of reps increases muscular endurance of the particular body part.
3. By keeping the number of repetitions same but changing the degree of difficulty of the exercise: This increases or decreases the strengthening component of the workout and the strength of the particular body part.
The Cooling Down: The cooling down is important to gradually get your circulatory system back to its normal pace, to prevent post-workout stiffness and to get your awareness back to your individual day. The cooling down is different from the warming up in that the stretches are less dynamic and more relaxing in nature. More
