Hi Everyone, Anyone doing circuit training?

I have decades of experience of powerlifting and cardio training but never have I done circuit training.

I also have a decade of experience of being morbidly obese, not loosing weight even though I worked out split training (3 days cardio, 3 days high reps moderate weight) and limited cals.

I am now following the Dr Bernsteins LC plan, one thing I don't want to do is loose muscle mass, so I like to maintain. Another thing I want to do is have my body a little ripped after the weight comes off. I don't want to be a body builder. Rather take what is hidden by fat, preserve it and trim it and streamline it.

Unfortunately, I have bad knees, a herniated(bulging) disc at L1/S1, and another 3 herniated discs(bulging) in my neck and a bad right shoulder. Type 2 diabetic producing high levels of insulin but insulin resistant.

And the worse of the worse is my feet. They hurt, from the L1/S1 problem according to the doctors. I still wonder if it is Diabetic neuropathy but they all say no.

Reading Dr Bs book he recommend resistance training. I have been doing it 1 week know and notice my Blood Sugars go down by 10 or so points and remain down.

Because of my bad back, knee problem, shoulder problem and my feet it makes getting exercise difficult.

This is the plan I have MWF - full body circuit training work out. THS - Tai Chi.

Bought some dumbbells and a bench, already had a schwinn stationary bike.

This is what I am doing. Do I have this right?

2 sets of this circuit.

12 reps each with heavy weights where you feel the burn and are struggling to get the last rep up. I don't do the reps slowly but I make sure they are under control and no cheating is happening by swinging momentum or arching back.

Alternating Bicep Curls
Bent Over Rows individually each side
1 minute High Sprint on Schwinn bike
15 sec rest
Lay down flies
Forehead Tricep extensions
1 minute High Sprint on Schwinn bike
15 sec rest
Alternating Front Shoulder Raises
Alternating Side Shoulder Raises
1 minute High Sprint on Schwinn bike
15 sec rest
Dumbbell squats (they are down to the side)
Calf Raises
1 minute High Sprint on Schwinn bike
15 sec rest
Standing up no breaks
Resistance band front leg push alternate individually
Resistance band inner thigh alternate individually
Resistance band outer thigh alternate individually
Resistance band Back leg kick alternate individually
30 second break for a drink
Start Circuit again.

Circuit is for 40 minutes. Heart rate was an average of 129 with a max hit of 149.

At the end I do lower stomach exercise. 3 different exercises ~ a set of 12 for now. Still feeling out the back.

What you think? Do I formulate this correct? any tweaks or things I should know?

Or am I off base completely on what I should be doing?

I'm not knowledgeable enough to offer feedback on your plan. I do want to chime in and say I had the same experience with either maintaining or gaining while working out 6 days/ week and limiting cals. I also experienced the same thing when I worked out 6 days/week and limited carbs. What finally changed it for me was cutting out the aerobic. Now I get cardio (increased heartrate) exclusively from the strength training and I'm losing weight doing it. Just an FYI ...

Good luck!

Hey Gypsybyrd, thanks for chiming in!

How do you get your cardio strength training? I tried the circuit without the bike sprint. My Heart Rate basically hung around 105-125 with the average being 112.

I would prefer not to do the bike. As of today my knees feel so rusty and stiff (meaning they have fluid in them from swelling) from adding the sprints yesterday to my work out.

Thanks

My average heart rate during strength training is 130. I use minimal rest periods (30 sec) between sets. And I use max weight which seems to increase my heart rate.

I also alternate my workout days with circuit machines and body weight strength training. The body weight exercises also increase my heart rate.

Thanks Gysybryd, You know what I increased my weight and "cheated" some on the last 3-4 reps; instead of worrying about a "pure" correct lift. This got my HR up to 139 max and a steady 131. Thanks for your help

When I lift my max HR is is pretty close to redline training, eg today I hit 161 max HR but I still include some cardio days because lifting in not quite enough to cut BF%

Truslyver, I would love to include cardio... Every time I do my knees are a train wreck after...

I also realized to pick up the pace more today. I hit 144 max BP but averaged 122. My 85% is 150 BP.

Need to increase weight again on the squats. I already increased the resistant bands. during the resistant bands with no breaks moving from one exercise to another i can stay in the 135 range.

It also takes a while to get my BP up. I don't start getting into the 130s until I am on my second set.

In my mind, cardio = increased HR and aerobic is a specific type of cardio. All aerobic is cardio but not all cardio is aerobic. Strength training can be cardio. I do not recall where I read this information. It might have been in Volek's book or just an article I found while researching.

I believe that there are studies posted throughout this forum about the effect of aerobic on weight loss and body fat loss. If I recall, strength training has more of an effect on weight and body fat loss than aerobic. If I find those threads, I'll post a link.

I used to do circuit training amongst other different regimes depending on what I was wanting to do with my body at that time. Switching to low carb made everything go quicker, faster and actually less training so I've got no complaints there.

One thing I would recommend considering the various health problems you're coping with at the moment is firstly, there's good news. As you lose weight and increase muscle strengths some of those will start to disperse.

One thing I would recommend you look at is the work of Dr. Al Sears. You can find that on alsearsmd.com. He's very much into cardio using his PACE system which I think you will find possibly a little bit straightforward than the one that you are looking at at the moment.

Hope that helps,

Mark

Hey Mark thanks for the reference I will definitely check it out!