You Can Do These Circuit Training Exercises Anywhere, No Equipment Needed

Circuit training workouts without equipment can provide both cardiovascular and strength training benefits, at home or in the gym, for any fitness level. And just because you're not using any equipment doesn't mean your workout will is any less effective.

To get an excellent strength and cardio workout, all you need is a circuit or two of several exercises (plus a few feet of free space). Learn more about circuit training and try your own equipment-free workout right at home.

Circuit workouts are an efficient way to exercise. Typically, little rest is taken between sets as you perform one exercise right after another. Depending on your fitness level, the amount of rest you choose determines how extreme your workout is and what type of cardio you'll be performing.

There are several different types of circuit training, depending on your fitness goals and preference. You can design high-intensity workouts, aerobic workouts or advanced Tabata-style workouts (all of these are technically circuit training) by merely adjusting your rest and work periods.

For an advanced gym-goer, performing 60 seconds of work with 15 seconds of rest could be a reasonably standard high-intensity interval training (HIIT) circuit. Circuit training for beginners may include 30 seconds of high-intensity work with a 60-second break.

The good news is that you can easily design your own circuit training workouts without equipment and adjust them to your individual goals and fitness level. First, let's take a deeper look at some typical work and rest period times, and then explore some of the best circuit training exercises without weights.

The American Council on Exercise provides a table for determining the type of workout you are doing based on specific work and rest intervals. The intensity of your work interval will also come into play.

With anaerobic intervals, working out at an intense level — about 7 to 8 on a scale of 10 — will be required to get results. With aerobic training, the intensity will be lower, around 3 or 4 on the scale. Below is a Ratings of Perceived Exertion Scale, used by the American Council on Exercise and the Cleveland Clinic, among other institutions.

• 0 – No effort
• 1 – Very easy
• 2 – Somewhat easy
• 3 – Moderate effort
• 4 – Slightly hard
• 5 – Hard
• 6
• 7 – Very hard
• 8
• 9
• 10 – Very, very hard

Below are some examples of how to time your work and rest periods (or active recovery, AR) based on the desired workout type and intensity, as provided by the American Council on Exercise.

• ‌Cardiovascular conditioning (aerobic):‌ 1 to 5 minutes of work and 1 to 5 minutes of rest/AR (1:1)
• ‌Metabolic conditioning (anaerobic HIIT):‌ 15 to 45 seconds of work and 30 to 120 seconds of rest/AR (1:2-3)
• ‌Tabata:‌ 20 seconds of work and 10 seconds rest/AR (2:1)

Tabata, for example, requires working out at high intensity for 20 seconds followed by 10 seconds of rest or active recovery. Repeat this cycle for four minutes. That's a set, or round. Perform up to four rounds per session.

If, say, you prefer to exercise outdoors, you can sprint for 20 seconds, walk for 10 seconds and repeat. Continue for four minutes, take a short break and start all over.

Researchers behind a May-June 2013 study in ACSM's Health and Fitness Journal recommend selecting exercises that hit all of the major muscle groups. Furthermore, it's important to work large muscle groups to create the intensity and resistance necessary for an effective workout. With this approach, you'll burn more calories as your body requires more energy to use them.

You don't need elaborate equipment, a big gym or a coach to create an effective circuit workout at home. And choosing exercises easy for transitions can also help reduce rest times. That's where body-weight exercises come in. A few recommended exercises include:

• Push-ups
• Squats
• Lunges
• Planks
• Tricep push-ups
• Frog crunches
• Wall sits
• Star jumps
• Step-ups

Depending on your schedule and fitness level, you can perform more than one circuit during a 20- or 30-minute workout. Remember to listen to your body and never sacrifice form for speed. Set a timer for 10 to 15 minutes and repeat this circuit until time is up, taking rest as needed.

An April 2017 analysis published in ‌Ageing Research Reviews‌ showed that circuit training for three sessions per week for an average of 41 minutes per session resulted in greater upper and lower body strength.

This workout method increased adherence to strength training programs due to the shorter duration of circuit training workouts versus traditional models of straight sets and repetitions. Increasing workout adherence can mitigate the typical loss in muscle mass experienced by the majority of aging adults.

When it comes to measures of blood pressure and cholesterol, a small study published in‌ Lipids in Health and Disease‌ in September 2013 notes that high-intensity circuit training seems more effective than low-intensity circuit training.

The study found that although all groups displayed improved body weight measures, the high-intensity circuit training group had more significant reductions in several areas. These include fat mass, diastolic blood pressure, total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol and triglycerides, as well as an increase in healthy high-density lipoprotein cholesterol.

Researchers concluded that high-intensity circuit training was more effective at improving blood pressure and blood lipids than lower-intensity circuit training or endurance training alone.

It is clear that whether you opt for a lower-intensity or higher-intensity form of circuit training, the benefits are worth it. Choose a type of workout with your specific health concerns and goals in mind. You can also mix the two to get the best of both worlds.