surprise at the gym

After abs class the other night, I walked down to where cardio kickboxing was going to take place. Imagine my surprise when I saw the group huddled around mats, weights, jump ropes and cards with numbers on them laid out across the floor. I thought for a moment that I was in the wrong class, but the instructor advised that this indeed was supposed to be cardio kickboxing, but that the instructor was not able to teach the class that night. Instead, we would be doing a circuit training workout.

I have been exercising for a long time, ever since I was a child really, and while the thought did appeal to me, I have never done circuit training. A few people left when they heard what was in store. I wasn't thrilled to hear about the change in class, but I was game - I was there to work out after all and I enjoy this instructor's classes. She explained that we would be going through 12 stations, for 2 minutes at each station. The stations included things like - lunges, bicep curls, push ups, tricep kickbacks, jump rope, squats, jumping jacks, etc. Hmmm... I thought, two minutes on each one doesn't seem so bad. But the instructor assured us that we would be feeling it by the 3rd station.

Boy was she right! And evil too... who puts push ups after tricep curls and shoulder raises. My arms were killing me by that point :) I was pretty psyched that I kept up a good clip on the jump rope for 2 minutes. By the end of it all, I was a dripping mess and thinking that it was the best class I have ever taken. I hope they offer it again!

I did some researching and it seems like you can burn upwards of 600 calories per hour during circuit training. I certainly felt like it, and not only that but you gain the benefits of both a cardio workout and a strength training workout. There is a circuit room in my gym, but I was always a little nervous about going in there because I wasn't really sure what I was doing. Armed with this knowledge, I hope I can tailor something for myself, because this was an absolute fabulous workout! If you're interested in learning more, check out this WebMd website.

*k*