Circuit Training Programs For Strength Endurance & Fitness

A circuit training program can be used to develop either short-term or long-term strength endurance
Short-term muscular endurance is required for sports and events that last between 30 seconds and 2 minutes. Certain swimming and running events fall under this duration and strength endurance is required to maintain a high level of work throughout the race.

But sports that last much longer than 2 minutes like soccer, field hockey, rugby, boxing, wrestling and martial arts also demand similar short-term strength endurance. Games like these consist of short, repetitive bouts of high intensity activity, often with little rest periods in between.

The sample circuit training programs below and variations of them can be used to build short-term; strength endurance. Athletes competing in continuous endurance events such as distance running or cycling require a different program design. See these circuit training routines for sport-specific examples.
Of course, you dont have to be athlete to benefit from circuit training. Circuit training workouts can be used for general fitness or for cross training during the closed season.

Sample Circuit Training Programs

From an athletes perspective, a circuit training program forms just one part of the overall strength training program. Its particularly effective when it follows a period of maximal weight training as the higher the athletes basic strength is the more of it can be converted into sport-specific muscular endurance.

A suitable circuit training program will help athletes to cope with fatigue and tolerate high levels of lactic acid accumulation. A relatively low resistance is used and circuit stations are completed for brief periods of time similar to what might be expected during competition.

Here are the parameters for designing a circuit training program for short-term strength endurance:

Circuit training guidelines

The following three circuit training examples show how the parameters above alter within the suggested ranges for various sports:

Circuit training program for a field hockey player