Circuit advice

Ryder

Hi, just looking for some circuits advice. Was a rower and cyclist up to last year. Years of core neglect have left me with a weak upper body and core. With limited time, am trying to improve my functional strength this year.

Twice a week Im doing a 30 min Z3 run followed by 3 circuits of; dumbell bent over row - roughly 15reps, gym ball crunch - roughly 40, legs on gym ball pressup- roughly 17, dumbell clean and press - 10, gym ball hamstring curls, bicycle crrunch, side bridges and pistols (with bend to touch ground)......each exercise done to failure. Whole thing takes 30 mins

Any advice to maximise gains or alternate exercise?

Thanks

Frogdog

If you have a weak upper body and core I wouldn't advise circuits to be honest.

Have you given any thought to any of the beginner's strength training programs like Starting Strength or Stronglifts? They'd be a lot more beneficial in my opinion.

Jay Farrant CPT

Squat / Dead lift /Bench Press / Pulls

Work on these for a while , Like frogo said starting strength would be a good idea .

Ryder

Thanks for the input. Am limited to training at home......so dumbells and gymball only. Was doing a circuit style to try and incorporate a cardio element, and also because I dont want to build muscle as such just want to get core and upper body conditioned (if that makes sense)

Would you see anything wrong with the exercises im doing?

Frogdog

Fair enough.

But you're going to have to be more specific when you say you want your core and your upper body conditioned. By conditioned do you mean more muscle, less fat or both?

Jay Farrant CPT

Ryder wrote: »

Thanks for the input. Am limited to training at home......so dumbells and gymball only. Was doing a circuit style to try and incorporate a cardio element, and also because I dont want to build muscle as such just want to get core and upper body conditioned (if that makes sense)

Would you see anything wrong with the exercises im doing?

Try Something like this reading the forum charter

If its a bit easy, Then do DB Front Squats and DB lunges instead of Bodyweight .

the drifter

Jay Farrant CPT wrote: »

Try Something like this

If its a bit easy, Then do DB Front Squats and DB lunges instead of Bodyweight .

did you seriously....after two bans...come back and link to your blog...again??

3rd strike...your outtta here!

Jay permabanned for his 3rd ban in a row.

Ryder

Frogdog wrote: »

Fair enough.

But you're going to have to be more specific when you say you want your core and your upper body conditioned. By conditioned do you mean more muscle, less fat or both?

Thanks. I mean more muscle, but my goal is to increase overall fitness. I have about 6hours a week to train...main sport is cycling now. I got some ITB injuries last year, due to weak pelvis/core? So am trying to increase upper body and core strength this year......to prevent injuries/ balance.....not with the goal of increasing strength as such.....hope it makes sense.

Deceided on a circuit format to maximise cardio....with the upper body core focus. May switch to dumbell/split squat instead of pistols.....good idea?

Frogdog

Trying to gain muscle while doing a fair amount of cardio don't necessarily go hand in hand. You need rest to recover from weights sessions, so cardio wouldn't be the most beneficial. Also, cardio can use your muscle as fuel, leaving you with less muscle than you began with.

I think you need to concentrate on one thing at a time. If you want to gain muscle, do that and that only. Beware that your fitness levels will drop and you will gain fat also, but you will have extra muscle. If you want to do cardio, your fitness levels will remain good/get better, but you will lose some muscle.