Howdy,

I have a guest article for you today from my buddies Josh Henkin and Keats Snideman about the benefits of Power Circuits.

When you are a coach you spend most of your time problem solving. You never have enough time, you could always use more resources, and clients/athletes keep you coming up with new teaching methods, as no one seems to learn the same way. In essence, a good coach has to learn how to become a chameleon of sorts! However, dealing with such circumstances usually leads to new ideas, or the revitalization of old ones with new

twists. This is exactly why we started implementing a style of training called Power Circuit Training. 

 

Circuit training is nothing new. However, when most people think about circuits they

think of the skinny fat person that jumps from machine to machine performing ungodly

number of repetitions in a gym or an all-women’s fitness center.  On the other hand,

Power Circuit training is circuit training on steroids! The emphasis of the loading

parameters, exercise selection, and the goals are tremendously different than that of

traditional circuit training. 

 

Who is this type of training for you might ask? The answer is just about anyone. The

training variables can be manipulated a million different ways to suit various goals and

individuals. This is definitely for the lifter that wants to gain functional muscle mass,

become more athletic, reduce body fat, help recover from injury, and even appropriate for

strength athletes in off-season or backing off phases. It can help prevent overtraining

symptoms, decrease muscle imbalances, and improve conditioning for those that want tobe muscular and lean; sorry no marathon runners here. In the end, power circuit training

is just plain old fun!

 

Power Circuit Training: Hypertrophy, Motor Qualities, and Mental Toughness

 

With regards to hypertrophy, it is known that great changes in muscle growth are largely

dictated by the amount of work or volume that one does (Zatsiorsky). When it comes to

exercise selection, we all know that large compound lifts stimulate the recruitment of

more muscle fibers and cause a greater release of anabolic hormones.  Additionally, when

combined with abbreviated rest intervals, Power Circuit training can lead to greater fat

loss because of the greater caloric expenditure and higher levels of GH being released.

Not a bad win-win combo. 

 

There is great debate whether or not one can combine multiple strength qualities into one

training session. Some of the debate becomes null and void when you consider the time

you have allotted for training as well as one’s training background. As far as we know,

most trainees and even many professional lifters (power lifters, Olympic lifters) are not at

a point where most of the advanced theories (mostly Eastern bloc research) even apply.

Simply, most people have serious holes and deficiencies in what you might call “General

Physical Preparedness” or GPP for short. We learned from our colleague Dan John last

year at Charles Staley’s Annual Fitness Summit in Las Vegas that the Germans called

this elusive state “General Many-Sidedness’.” Whatever the heck you choose to call it, most of us need more general conditioning and variety in our training to help stimulate

what some experts call Physical Literacy.

 

 Most of us are walking around with serious physical “illiteracy” in many of the basic

movement abilities that comprise optimal movement expression in activities such as

running, throwing, striking, and kicking.  These abilities have been summed by various

Periodization experts such as Istvan Balyi, as the ABC’S of Athleticism: Agility, Balance,

Coordination, and Speed.  Unfortunately, research has shown that optimal development

of these qualities takes places during what are called “critical” or “sensitive” time

periods, which are between the ages of 6-14. So unless you are a super young T-nation

member you’ve probably missed those critical periods where it would have been crucially

important to engage in as many sports and activities as possible. With that said, every one

of us can still make improvements in these fundamental motor abilities at any age so we

won’t use that as an excuse!

 

An element of mental toughness also plays a significant role in performing these

programs. While this may not seem important to most people, actually learning how to

push through discomfort can go a long way in helping people get further to their goals.

We often read in magazines or hear of people “pushing themselves to the limit” but very

few lifters actually go that extra mile in their training. Even those that train with someone

often spend more time talking about the cute girls at work rather than focusing and

preparing for the next work set. With time being of the essence, one needs to learn proper

focus. With Power Circuits you have no time to waste and you are forced to prepare for

your next set. You can’t sit and think about how miserable the last set was, that is history,

you are moving onto the next drill! It is intense mentally and really brings out the

testosterone in people’s competitive nature. 

 

Protocols

 

Sounds like fun, right? So what to do next, hmmm…knowing how to set up the program

might be a little bit important. Designing such programs can be relatively simple if you

pay attention to some key variables. 

 

Repetitions:

Generally the repetitions are kept low, usually between 3 and 6. This accomplishes

several goals:

 

1.  The quality of work is much higher; this is going to be key as there will be some

level of fatigue accumulating.

 

2.  This type of training lends itself better to maximal strength and speed

development while increasing hypertrophy levels. 

 

3.  The focus changes from how many repetitions one has to do, to how fast you can

move the weight. 

Intensity

During this phase sub-maximal intensities are best going no higher than 85% of your 1

RM. This allows for more overall work to be accomplished and some neural recovery.

 

Rest Intervals

Rest intervals are going to play a key role in adding challenge to your routine as well as a

principle component of progression. Most people may find themselves using a

conservative time frame of 90-120 seconds in between each circuit. This will be

something you will want to decrease as your conditioning improves. However, you will

want to go no lower than 30 seconds; a minute would be more preferential.   

 

Volume

Your goals and your current level of conditioning will dictate the volume you use. Those

who are new to this style of training will do best to start with a lower number of sets to

allow their body to adapt to the stress of these brutal circuits. After a week or two,

volume can increase to 3-5 sets depending on the goal and how you are feeling that day.

We believe in monitoring one’s attitude towards training as well as one’s basic mood and

energy each day. Some days people have more strength than others so there may be times

when loads should be lessened, reps lowered, or sets decreased to allow the body to deal

with whatever stress might be affecting it. As we all have experienced, there are times in

all our lives when work, family, financial, and emotional stress takes it toll and ruins are

training. If you make sure you leave your ego at the door and listen to your body, you

will choose loads that “feel” challenging yet controllable. This is why most people should

add a “Ratings of Perceived Exertion” to their exercise logbook.

 

Picking the Right Movements

 

Sorry guys, this isn’t going to be an arm specialization program. You won’t get to hit

your biceps from every angle as humanly possible. Instead, you will place your emphasis

on bigger movements that should actually give your arms a big boost! We know the

benefits of big compound lifts, yet, many people will still only utilize one or two in their

routines. 

 

To solve the problem of choosing the specific exercises you should spend the majority of

your time using we have created a simple categorization of what we refer to as the  “Elite

Eight” movements. If you were to even just use the exercises listed you would find

yourself with tremendous success in all aspects of training. Many classic strongmen used

a similar philosophy to develop their impressive physique and incredible levels of

strength all before the steroid era. The 8 exercises and their endless derivatives include:

 

1. Clean and Jerk: Power Clean, Squat Clean, Split Clean, Dumbbell/Kettlebell Clean,

Hang Clean, Clean Pulls, Power Jerk, Split Jerk, Dumbbell/Kettlebell Jerk, and

combinations of the two together, etc…

 

2. Snatch: Power Snatch, Full Snatch, Hang Snatch, Dumbbell/Kettlebell Snatch, Split

Snatch, Snatch Pulls, Drop Snatch, One-arm Barbell Snatch, etc… 

3. Squat: Power, Front, Overhead, Olympic, Box, Quarter, Rack, Hack,

Dumbbell/Kettlebell, Zercher, Pistols, Lunges, etc…

 

4. Deadlift: Conventional, Sumo, Partial, RDL, Single Leg, Goodmornings, Swings,

Suitcase, Thick bar, Snatch Grip, etc…

 

5. Overhead Press: Barbell/Dumbbell/Kettlebell, Military, Behind/Front of Body, Push

Press, Seesaw, One-arm, Rack, Alternating, Bradfords, Windmills, Side Press, Bent

Press, etc…

 

6. Bench Press: Wide/Medium/Close Grips, Board, Rack, Reverse, Floor,

Dumbbell/Kettlebell, Alternating, Paused, Push-up Variations, Dips, etc…

 

7. Upper Body Pulling: Chin-up/Pull-up Variations, Ropes/Thick Bars/Towels, Cable

Rowing, Barbell/Dumbbell/Kettlebell Rows, Seesaw, Renegade, Rope Pulls. 

 

8. Carrying and Throwing: Farmer’s Walk, Zercher, Overhead, Shoulder, Yoke Carry,

Clean, Deadlift, Barbell/Dumbbell/Kettlebell/Keg/Sandbag, Through Cones,

Overhead/Forward Throws, Rotational Throws.

 

As you can see, even though we are basing our training off of eight movements, the

variations are endless. We are not going to buy the idea of being “bored” in your training

as a viable excuse. With all these movements we haven’t even touched on including a

wide array of implements or using combination exercises. That will be saved for a later

time for torture and misery. 

 

To select the right exercises you want to pick one maximal strength lift, one speed lift,

and three to four additional exercises that will help balance out the routine. These

complimentary lifts will be more for prehab and increasing your movement literacy. If

you find yourself unsure of how to perform any of the Olympic lift variations listed you

can substitute speed squats and speed bench. However, we would highly encourage you

to learn even the most basic aspects of the lifts because the benefits and personal

satisfaction that derive from them are numerous. Some of these Olympic lifts can be

performed with a variety of implements that can greatly decrease the learning curve and

negate some of the wrist flexibility problems. Here are some sample routines for a

conditioned trainee:

 

Workout 1:

Circuit A

Front Squat: 3 repetitions

DB Push-press: 5 repetitions 

DB Snatches: 5 reps each side

Pull-ups: 5 repetitions (add load if needed)

 

Number of Circuits:3-5  Rest Periods: 90 seconds (decrease rest by 15 seconds every workout until 30-45 seconds is reached. Increase load slightly and start back at 90 seconds)

 

Circuit B

Step-ups: 6 repetition each side

Dips: 6 repetitions (add load if needed)

Cable woodchops: 8 repetitions each side

DB Farmers walks: 30-45 seconds

 

Number of circuits: 2-4

Rest Periods: 60 seconds (keep constant throughout training block)

 

Workout 2:

Circuit A

Clean Pulls: 5 repetitions

Incline DB Press: 5 repetitions

Zercher Lunge: 6 repetitions each leg

 

Number of Circuits:3-5 

Rest Periods: 90 seconds (decrease rest by 15 seconds every workout until 30-45 seconds

is reached. Increase load slightly and start back at 90 seconds)

 

Circuit B

Bent-over Row: 6 repetitions

Close Grip Bench Press: 6 repetitions

Hanging Leg Raises: 10 repetitions

 

Number of circuits: 2-4

Rest Periods: 60 seconds (keep constant throughout training block)

 

Workout 3:

Circuit A

Box Squat: 5 repetitions (performed explosively)

Military Press: 5 repetitions

RDL: 6 repetitions

1-arm low cable rows: 6 repetitions each

 

Number of Circuits:3-5 

Rest Periods: 90 seconds (decrease rest by 15 seconds every workout until 30 seconds is

reached. Increase load slightly and start back at 90 seconds)

 

Circuit B

1-arm DB Swings: 10 repetitions each side

Hammer Curls: 8 repetitions

Janda Sit-ups: 6 repetitions

Cable Scarecrows: 10 repetitions 

Number of circuits: 2-4

Rest Periods: 60 seconds (keep constant throughout training block)

 

Other Ideas

 

What we’ve shown above is how Power Circuit training can be implemented in the

traditional gym setting. However, other types of implements such as kettlebells,

strongman tools (tires, kegs, stones, etc.), sandbags, heavy medicine balls, and even cars

and other weighted objects can easily replace the conventional gym exercises. Below is a

sample of how to design a routine with non-conventional implements:

 

Workout 1:

Circuit A

Heavy Tire Flips: 5 Repetitions

Sandbag clean and press: 5 Repetitions

Truck or call Rope pulling: 30-45 seconds duration

 

Number of Circuits: 3-5

Rest Periods: 90-120 seconds  (more rest might be needed to avoid the “puke” factor!)

 

Circuit B

Sledgehammer tire smashes: 12-15 each side

Farmers Walks: 40-60 yards (walk 20-30 yards, turn around and head back)

Truck pushing: 30-45 seconds duration 

Bucket Pukes: 3 sets of 5 yacks!

 

Number of circuits: 2-3

Rest Periods: 90-120 seconds or more (You might feel very woozy after a round of this if

you’re not use to this style of training)

 

Workout 2:

Circuit A

Heavy Keg shouldering: 2-3 reps each to each shoulder

KB double clean & jerk- 5 reps

Wheel Barrel obstacle course: 40 yards course weaving in and out of cones (down and

back for time)

 

Number of Circuits: 3-5

Rest Periods: 90-120 seconds  

 

Circuit B

Keg circuit: high pulls: 5 repetitions

Overhead lunges: 3 repetitions each

Bent-over rows: 5 repetitions

Sandbag Bear-hug turkish get up: 3 repetitions 

Number of circuits: 2-3

Rest Periods: 90-120 seconds or more

 

Conclusion

 

As you can see, there are endless ways you can combine this style of training. The key is

to figure out your goals first, and then to design the program from there. With the

addition of odd implements the entire process becomes even more fun and exhilarating

even when you think you might puke. The good things is that the body is very willing to

adapt to the often brutal pace of these workouts as long as you don’t try to do too much

load and volume in the beginning. Take your time to break yourself into these types of

workouts and don’t forger to have fun! Results are right around the corner.

 

About the Authors

 

Josh Henkin is owner of Innovative Fitness Solutions (www.joshhenkin.com) in

Scottsdale, Arizona. Coach Henkin has presented nationally in the field of fitness

and sports enhancement. He is also the author of High Octane Sandbag Training

manual and DVD (http://www.asktthefitnessexpert.com/sandbag). 

 

About the author- Keats Snideman is a Strength and Conditioning Specialist who

lives in Phoenix, Arizona.  He specializes in the development of usable strength and

athletic fitness. In the interests of injury prevention and enhanced recovery, Keats

also holds a license in massage therapy with an emphasis on sports massage and

Neuromuscular Therapy (NMT). He competes in sub-masters track and field as a

100/200-meter sprinter. Visit his website at www.keatssnideman.com.