In traditional machine and weight exercise routines, exercisers rest for minutes at a time in between sets of a specific exercise.
If you want to be more efficient with time while burning more fat, Circuit Training is the way to go.
Circuit Training describes a way of moving through exercises that maximizes fat-burning and cardiovascular training by keeping the heart rate and breathing up throughout the workout.
When performing "circuits," you will never find yourself sitting on a machine and resting (wasting) minutes at a time.
Instead, each circuit containing 2-4 exercises is designed so that you move from one exercise to the next with virtually no rest in between.
In a Circuit, you perform a given number of repetitions for Exercise 1 and from there immediately go to Exercise 2 for the given number of repetitions, then onto Exercise 3 and so on.
Once you complete the first "set" (each exercise done once for the applicable number of repetitions), go back to the beginning and start on Set #2 with Exercise 1, repeating the entire cycle, usually 3-4 times.
The idea behind circuit training is to keep the heart rate elevated throughout the workout to maximize cardiovascular conditioning, while also maintaining some lactic acid in the muscles to create a burn.
Lactic acid release is critical in forcing the body to respond, as its accumulation assures that the muscle is being sufficiently worked; so don't be afraid of the "burn.
" Doing a workout that allows for very little rest guarantees a somewhat constant stream of lactic acid accumulation in varying degrees.
However, because you are doing different exercises back to back, there is some relief in that synergistic muscles are working, but at different angles.
Overall, circuit-style training can boost fat-burning effects while saving time and improving the cardiovascular effects of resistance training.