Elite Physique The New Science of Building a Better Body

204 Elite Physique
TABLE 8.2 Time to Completion for a Full-Body Workout With Straight
Sets
Movement
Upper body pull: 4 sets × 20 sec × 3 min rest 10:20
Rest: move to upper body push 01:00
Upper body push: 4 sets × 20 sec × 3 min rest 10:20
Rest: move to lower body movement 01:00
Lower body movement: 4 sets × 20 sec × 3 min rest 10:20
Time spent resting
Time spent lifting
Total workout duration
Duration (min)
29:00
04:00
33:00
With a circuit format you choose rest periods that allow at least 3 minutes
before repeating an exercise, just like the example with straight sets. That means
you need approximately 50 seconds’ rest between each movement to get 3 minutes
of rest before repeating it the following circuit. Let’s stay with the example
that each set takes 20 seconds to complete, meaning the total time spent lifting
will be the same: 4 minutes. But using a circuit structure, now the workout takes
just over 13 minutes to complete, with just over 9 minutes being rest, as shown
in table 8.3. This means your workout duration is now less than half of what it
was with straight sets while still resting 3 minutes before repeating an exercise.
That is efficient training.
TABLE 8.3 Time to Completion for a Full-Body Workout With a Circuit
Structure
Movement
1a: Upper body pull 00:20
Rest: move to upper body push 00:50
1b: Upper body push 00:20
Rest: move to lower body movement 00:50
1c: Lower body movement 00:20
Rest: move to upper body pull, repeating exercises a-c for 4
rounds
Time spent resting
Time spent lifting
Total workout duration
Duration (min)
00:50
09:10
04:00
13:10
There are benefits of a circuit structure beyond efficiency. Even though you’re
training other muscle groups during the 3 minutes, you can achieve the same
strength and muscle gains as if you rested passively using straight sets (Alcaraz
et al. 2011). Indeed, research demonstrates you can work other muscle groups
during a rest period without negatively affecting your strength for that exercise
(Muñoz-Martínez et al. 2017).