Why Circuit training is overrated, and what you should do instead.

        Circuit training is overrated.

Thats right I said it.

Completely and utterly overrated.

    I'm in the military and nine times out of ten when workouts are prepared for the day it is undoubtably going to be circuit training (the lone exception being when I was in Master Fitness Trainer). I should preface this article with the fact that I have a Masters in Exercised Science and Certified Personal Trainer, so my education more often than not trumps who they put in charge. This is not from an egotistical point of view, but a general lack of education. You might ask why don't you design the workouts? Excellent question. The answer is in two parts: 1. When the bosses say do this.... you do it (as long as its not unethical, immoral or illegal) and 2. Develpment is a huge part of the military and you got to see how your subordinates perform in front of a crowd. Typically, whomever is in charge puts together a random assortment of exercises. Assigns a random collection of reps and rest cycles then implements that idea. In a vacuum they do have benefits when conducting physical training with a large crowd (command a control for whomever is in charge, and for the most part the exercises are simple). With the next paragraph, I'll attempt to explain why circuit training is not the most ideal training.

    Combining resistance training and aerobic training detracts from the adaptations from either exercise. We have beat a dead horse in some of the adaptions surrounding aerobic training and anaerobic training. In order to elicit the adaptations needed you must focus on one or the other. Take neural for example, as you progress in resistance training your mind becomes better at sending powerful and repetitive signals (rate coding and recruitment) to the muscle fibers to lift heavier and heavier weight. Those adaptations do not take place in circuit training. Now if your goal is to build muscular endurance then sure, but do the rest cycles of thirty seconds or less take place? doubtful. Resistance training recruits more type 2x fibers that aren't reached in circuit training. Speaking of muscle fibers another example is when your resistance trains your muscles become more forceful and contract all at once; aerobic training does the opposite by enabling muscle fibers to contract in an offsetting way. Circuit training does not quite enhance fibers in the same way and may cause adverse adaptions to power and overall strength. It has been proven that overall peak sprint speed and jump power will decrease due to circuit training. A Circuit training based around aerobic principles has been proven to deter strength gains, peak speed and peak jumping power. Improvement for aerobic adaptations have been shown to be minimal; the better way to go would be to singularly focus on aerobic style training. 

    A circuit training that will enhance strength, jump and speed is High Intensity Resistance Training (HIRT). HIRT couples' heavy resistance training with circuit training. Meaning that you have a round of bench, squat, pullups, straight leg deadlift, kettle bell swings all in that 8-12 rep range. As you progress through the circuit you allow your body the ninety second rest periods allocated for hypertrophy style workouts. The downside is the equipment and weights needed for each lift to be effective. This is one of those workouts that is conducted early in the morning or late in the evening...don't be that gym bro that takes up all the weights.