Circuits vs weight training??

[Chrissy_boy]

I have seen written on this forum many a time that people should reduce the amount of weight training they do and concentrate on circuits of push ups etc. This may be correct but i would have expected that weights would be very helpful to improve your muscles so that you can perform as many press ups etc as you can? Why is it seen by many that it is better to do circuits more than weights?

[darrenrugby18]

Circuits concentrate more on endurance and strength, but weight just tend to work on strength, and at the end of the day why do bench press to help your press ups when you can just do press ups.

[mfat_man]

I have seen written on this forum many a time that people should reduce the amount of weight training they do and concentrate on circuits of push ups etc. This may be correct but i would have expected that weights would be very helpful to improve your muscles so that you can perform as many press ups etc as you can? Why is it seen by many that it is better to do circuits more than weights?

Hi Chrissy_boy

No harm with doing some weights as they will help build muscle - will be useful for the press ups and other strength exercises.

Circuits are idea as the last man says they are a combination of strenght and stamina, as well as CV so you also also keep your heart rate up

The mob also love them so you may as well get in some good habits now if you see what I mean...

Enjoy!

[JCAP3]

The PTIs wont have you doing benchpress and bicep curls during RT. Burpees and pressups are an excellent start.

[mfat_man]

http://www.brianmac.demon.co.uk/circuit.htm

Some info here you might find useful;

Circuit training is an excellent way to simultaneously improve mobility, strength and stamina. The circuit training format utilizes a group of 6 to 10 strength exercises that are completed one exercise after another. Each exercise is performed for a specified number of repetitions or for a prescribed time period before moving on to the next exercise. The exercises within each circuit are separated by brief, timed rest intervals, and each circuit is separated by a longer rest period. The total number of circuits performed during a training session may vary from two to six depending on your training level (beginner, intermediate, or advanced), your period of training (preparation or competition) and your training objective.

[Chrissy_boy]

Thanks for that link mfat_man! some new and interesting exercises i can include in my workout! Its a good website aswell, tons of information, nice find! Thanks for your posts aswell everyone, cleared that all up for me!

[Worthers Original]

I've always found that doing pressups helps my bench press but not the other way round.

[Hughser]

I disagree that weight training should be shunned completely, low weight and high reps is a good complament to pressups.

If you get some low weight dumbells (by low weight, i mean 1kg-2kg) and do 100 reps, 120 reps, 100 reps (3 sets). You will notice the difference. Although your arms will feel like jelly for the rest of the day.

I currently use two 2kg dumbell weights and use these to the reps above twice a week. Along with usual pressups.

[mfat_man]

I've always found that doing pressups helps my bench press but not the other way round.

WO

That might be true there is no magic formulae, you just have to try and do different things.

Some school of thought would say just do press-ups so you can do more (like in reps) others to build other muscles by doing pull-ups, chest presses etc we are all different... I'm quite stocky so press-ups have never been much of a problem but some people hate them

[lodgi]

My mate doesnt do any press ups, hes into body building and concentrates on size and strentgh but he can knock out a lot of normal style press ups from the bench pressing and can beat me at pull ups from all the pull down weight training hes done. I don't think theres anything wrong with some weights especially if you're a light person. I'm big and heavy to start with so I don't bother with em because I don't want any extra weight for running, but if you're a small you'll probably need a bit of size on you.

[Worthers Original]

I've always found that doing pressups helps my bench press but not the other way round.

WO

That might be true there is no magic formulae, you just have to try and do different things.

Some school of thought would say just do press-ups so you can do more (like in reps) others to build other muscles by doing pull-ups, chest presses etc we are all different... I'm quite stocky so press-ups have never been much of a problem but some people hate them

I think the reason doing pressups helps my benching and not the other way round is that the aim with pressups is to increase the number of reps whilst the weight (your body)/resistance remains pretty constant and that endurance helps when doing the much smaller number of benchpresses with heavier weight/greater resistance. The benching probably doesn't make as notable a difference when it comes to the greater endurance required for increasing pressups.

As you say, there are no hard and fast rules and there are lots of different body types. The thing is to experiment and see what works for you but I guess if you join the RM then what you do, during RT at least, is going to be dictated by the PTis. Certainly there's no harm in mixing up your training.

I would say that I probably wouldn't advise people start doing 100+ reps of an exercise, far too great a temptation to rush through it and risk injury.

[mfat_man]

I would say that I probably wouldn't advise people start doing 100+ reps of an exercise, far too great a temptation to rush through it and risk injury.

I have to agree, last time I did circuits I over-did it on the bar curls and hurt me bicep!

[Hughser]

I would say that I probably wouldn't advise people start doing 100+ reps of an exercise, far too great a temptation to rush through it and risk injury.

I have to agree, last time I did circuits I over-did it on the bar curls and hurt me bicep!

I have to agree with both of you, perhaps 100 is rather excessive if your just starting, but at the same time - 2kg is not a large weight to use. Perhaps start at 40-50.

[lodge939]

doing 100 reps of a tiny weight will give you a good pump but it wont make you any stronger. 3 sets of 8-12 is a good rule to follow in general.

weightlifting definately helps increase your pressup/situp/chinup scores, and makes you look better as a bonus. ive been lifting 4 times a week for 4 months now and when i tested myself for the first time i got 10 chinups, 55 pressups and 100+ situps.

if you train with steep incline situps and pressups with your feet elevated, normal exercises will be a walk in the park

[JCAP3]

Apart form the usual pressups and situps, the only thing I can think of that would probably benefit from weight training is bicep curls and military presses (POC Telegraph pole).

Strong legs too but not on a machine but free weights,