Jillian's Girls Exercise Journal

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  • Did everyone see this from MrsJim about how circuit training is supposed to work? That's not how I was doing it.... I was only doing 1 minute of the cardio part at the end...I guess it's gonna take me a little longer than usual...with added time for more
    Quote: well...that's not exactly right either, from what I know about circuit training.

    Here's how it works:

    Let's say that you have a "Circuit" consisting of 3 sets of 15 reps of the following:

    Pushups
    Leg Press
    Jump Rope (90 seconds)

    So here's what you do:

    15 pushups THEN 15 Leg Presses, THEN 90 seconds of jumping rope;
    15 pushups THEN 15 Leg Presses, THEN 90 seconds of jumping rope;
    15 Pushups THEN 15 Leg Presses THEN 90 seconds of jumping rope.

    There ya go - that's one circuit. An upper body exercise, a lower body exercise, and some cardio to keep the heart rate up.

    Hope that helps...
    Am I the only clueless one? I'm new to this workout thing...
  • Gina, Maybe that explains some of the time discrepancy. Yeah, I'm doing that cardio 3 times each set. Get ready to go up another notch baby ;-)!
  • Duh?...uh oh.... I wasn't doing it correctly either!!! I was doing 3 sets all right, but a total of 45 of pushups.... then 45 leg press .....then only one set of the jumping rope. I was wondering though....because with the new heart rate monitor that I got for my bday, I have very rarely gotten my HR up into the 85% range. This will require really JUMPING from area to area!!! That pisses me off!!! I feel great and thought I was doing such a bang up job, well back to square one.
  • Well angel-eyes, you are doing a bang up job. In a day or two after adding the additonal cardio you'll think you were always doing it that way.
  • Quote: Well angel-eyes, you are doing a bang up job. In a day or two after adding the additonal cardio you'll think you were always doing it that way.
    Hmmm, well...maybe not the first day....HOLY HEART RATE, BATMAN!! That sure does make for a different workout. I thought I was getting my butt kicked before!! Apparently it was just a slapfight. Day one of week 6...I still can't do a whole minute of butt kicks or jumping jacks...but my heart rate didn't have any problem staying up there - what with jumping around every minute or so. I thought about starting over with week one - but I think I'm just going to keep going. I'm mostly interested in learning the technique...after week 12 you have to make up your own stuff anyway.
    I was really glad it was Saturday - I practically had the gym to myself. Crank up the Green Day!!
    One small success - went out to dinner with DH last night - usually we order dessert when we go out..(at least we share). Last night instead of the big chocolaty thing - we went to TCBY for yogurt!
  • Gina, I feel your pain. Just finished day 4/week 5. My butt is whipped. Some exercises I have never done before. The cross legged lunge, that's new. I like the way it felt but had a hard time balancing. The 1 leg pelvic thrust, really felt that. I am not ready for the plank, had to substitue the crunch where you lean legs to one side. I am so ready for rest day this week and actuallly am thankful for 1 hr. of cardio coming up tomorrow, that sounds like a breeze compared to today.
  • Week 6 day 2 in the bag....I'm ready for a rest day! I will never again complain that I am having a hard time keeping my heart rate up.
  • Did my hour hike - am so glad tomorrow will be rest day! This week was really hard I thought.
  • I was looking forward to working out at the gym today but I barely got down the road when my brake light came on. Since I was overdo for a service check, I decided I had better get it looked at. I did the WTP 3 mile videotape before I left for appt. At least I did some excercise, just not what I had planned to do. Still....450 cal burned!!
  • Week one done! Will have to double up tomorrow to make up for a day I took off, but overall feeling good and down 2.5 pounds.
  • I was doing it just as Ms. Jim stated. A round robin I call it. When I do Jillian's workout, I don't rest between any set. I go from push ups to the next to the next, and again until all sets are done then to the next circuit. I find I am gasping for breath in some parts.

    I know Mrs. T said she took a lot of breaks so it took her longer. I think if you rest between sets, you'll probably add 10 or more minutes on to the time.
  • Hi Emma!!! How are you doing? Glad to see you back posting.
  • Do you guys do all three sets in the circuit and then move on to the next? I had been doing one set then moving on to the next circuit and repeating all circuits 3 times. Today I did all the sets in a row and found that it made my muscles work a lot harder, so I think I'll stick with doing it the new way unless that's not the right way to do it.
  • Hi Happydaisy.....hehe...I'm still figuring it all out and I'm into week 5!!! Mrs. Jim wrote a post (#181) on this thread...top of the page I think...that explains it the best. Good job on the workout today.
  • HappyDaisy, I do all the circuits in the set and then move on to the next one.

    Rest day was glorious!