Crunched for time? Give Circuit Training a try!

Both cardio and strength training are key components for your health, fitness, and wellness. Cardio helps keep your heart healthy and burns lots of calories, while strength training protects your bones and helps you build lean muscle tissue, which in turn increases your metabolism. However, fitting both into your schedule can be quite a challenge. Circuit training comes in handy for those crunched for time, combining both cardio and strength exercises into one great calorie blasting, muscle building workout.
To create a circuit training workout, select different strength training exercises that work your major muscle groups - think chest, back, legs, abdominals, shoulders, biceps, triceps inserting various cardio i.e...jumping rope, jumping jacks, running in place in between each strength exercise. Try starting off with 30 seconds of each cardio and strength exercise or "station," completing 1 circuit. If that feels easy, try completing your circuit 2 to 3 more times working up to 30 minutes. Check this sample circuit workout below or create your own:

Warm up: Jump rope (with our with out a rope) 3 to 5 minutes

1. Body Weight Squats
2. Jumping Jacks
3. Alternating Lunges
4. Run/Jog in place
5. Push ups
6. Jump rope
7. Triceps Dips
8. Jump side to side
9. Plank
10. Mountain Climbers