How to design your own full body circuit | From White Dress Workout

I hope you’re all doing great and managing to beat the summer heat!  It feels like it’s been a long summer but we’re almost there!  The cooler weather is almost in sight!  This month from the White Dress Workout, I want to teach you how to create your own circuit workouts because, well, sometimes it’s kinda tough to commit to a personal trainer or class timetable, especially on the lead up to your wedding (I know how crazy busy it can get in those last couple of months).

No matter if you’re looking to get a quick and effective 30 minute workout in in the comfort of your own home or an hours workout at the gym, I’m here to show you how you can design your own personalized full body circuit workout in no time!  Are you excited to get started? Great! Let’s get going!

1. Define your workout time
How long do you have for a session? 30 minutes, 45 or 60? Once you have your workout duration in mind you can move onto the next part…
2. Available Equipment
What equipment do you have available to use for your workout?  If you’re working out at the gym, chances are you will have a whole playground of exciting weights, bands and Cardio equipment available and if you’re working out at home then use what’s around you such as a chair, stairs, resistance bands and portable dumbbells if you have them?
Now you have your workout duration and equipment sorted, we can move on to planning the workout – don’t worry its super easy!
3. Structure
The structure of your circuit will depend on the time you have available. Let’s start with 30 minutes:

6 exercise circuit (4 rounds with 1 minute rest between each circuit)
Choose 2 cardio exercises, 2 upper body, 1 lower body exercise and 1 core and alternate them. Use the table at the bottom of the article for some help if you’re not sure on which exercises to include.

For example: Full Body

1. Jumping jacks (cardio)
2. Push ups (upper body –resistance)
3. Skipping (cardio)
4. Squats (lower body – resistance)
5. Plank hold (core)

Perform each exercise for 40 seconds and then take a 20 second rest (1 minute total). I usually use a stopwatch but you can use your phone timer too! After one circuit, rest for 1 minute and then repeat a further 3 times – this will total 28 minutes and with a 2-3 minute warm up and cool down you have a complete workout in 30 minutes!
If you plan to workout a couple of times a week then you can use each circuit to focus on a different area of the body – for example: Sunday– upper body and cardio circuit, Tuesday – Lower body and core circuit, Thursday – Full Body circuit

Circuit A: PUSH / CARDIO / CORE (5 exercises / 4 rounds)
Circuit B: PULL / CARDIO / CORE (5 exercises / 4 rounds)
OR
Circuit A: UPPER BODY / CARDIO / CORE (5 exercises / 4 rounds)
Circuit B: LOWER BODY / CARDIO / CORE (5 exercises / 4 rounds)

Stick to the same timing format as for the 30 minute session but complete 4 rounds of each circuit.

Here’s a list of exercises below to help you design your workout:

 I hope you’ve enjoyed this weeks blog and found it interesting and helpful. Stay healthy, happy and see you next Month! For personal training enquiries, feel free to email me at Jennie.law1989@gmail.com or head over to my Instagram white_dress_workout to see more.