A Simple ‘Full Body’ Circuit Workout
This workout is an easy to remember, tough workout which you should be able to do with a minimum of time and space. It only requires a couple of barbells and a willingness to push yourself!
A short note to start with – I consider this a ‘full body’ workout, this isn’t complete in the sense that you never train abs, calves etc. specifically but they do get a decent workout anyway from the compound lifts.
In addition this isn’t a routine for putting on mass – I use it because I can’t afford to get injured which is a risk when using heavier weights.
OK… Whats The Workout??
Simply do the following circuit 6 times, with 10 reps on each lift with as little rest as possible inbetween. I have included two variations, one of which is upper body focussed and the other a lower body focused workout – the only difference is one includes a bench press and the other squats.
How Much Weight Should I Use?
The weight used in this workout should be around 50% of your regular / maximum lifts, if not less as this is a circuit rather than a bodybuilding routine. To flesh this out a little Iittle I weigh in at around 200lb in weight and tend to use a 50kg barbell for the row, deadlift, press and squat and then a lighter bar (30-40kg) for the clean and press. You can of course vary this as you see fit but using a minimum amount of equipment means you can move onto the next move as fast as possible.
Upper Body Focused Workout
- Bent Over Row
- Deadlift
- Bench Press
- Clean and Press
Lower Body Focused Workout
- Bent Over Row
- Deadlift
- Squat
- Clean and Press
How Often?
Because this isn’t particularly taxing on your CNS due to the low weight used you can do this pretty much every day if you wanted, especially if you alternate the workouts. I tend to workout 6 days per week alternating cardio and weights workouts so that I complete 3 circuit workouts per week.
A Few Variations
After doing this workout a few times alternative lifts may occur to you – for example substituting in stiff legged deadlifts, front squats etc. as alternatives. You can also alternate variations within the same workout, for example I tend to do the following, with each run through the circuit using the alternate lift.
- Bent Over Row Overhand / Bent Over Row Underhand
- Deadlift / Stiff Legged Deadlift
- Squat / Front Squat — Bench Press / Dips
- Clean & Press
This just makes the workout a little more interesting and challenging, and is simple enough to do due to the low weight used.
If you have any comments or suggestions I’d love to hear them or more to the point try them out!!