Workout Idea: 45/15 CIRCUIT – CARDIO & STRENGTH

Author: Mark Pearce

The best bootcamps are the ones that are fast moving with no dead time for members to be static
and waiting around. This leads to chatting, losing focus and more importantly the body cooling
down putting people at risk of injuries.


So, this circuit is designed to be timed strictly and moved along sharply to ensure smooth transitions.
It’s simple to set up too and bodyweight based so ideal for the current situation with little or no
cleaning time which can eat into a session.
So, let’s get into the set up…


45/15 CIRCUIT – CARDIO & STRENGTH (36 mins appox.)


The basic set up is the group working together to complete a pair of exercises. Each exercise is
completed for 45 seconds, then rest for 15 seconds. Then the next exercise of the pair for 45
seconds, rest for 15, then 45 seconds of the first, then rest. You repeat this for 6 rounds, meaning
you do each exercise of the pair 3 times.


I do 6 pairs of exercises, 3 strength based and 3 cardio based. Its best to alternate between strength
and cardio pairs so fatigue and muscle soreness is spread out slightly.

I know that sounds complicated but here’s the basic routine…

Round one goes like this…

45 seconds = Burpees

15 seconds = Rest

45 seconds = Mountain Climbers

15 seconds = Rest

Repeat this 3 times.  Then rest for 60-90 seconds which gives you enough time to demo/explain the next pair of exercises.

Training Notes;

  • I would not go through every exercise before you start, explaining 12 exercises in one go will be insanely boring for members and involve a lot of standing around and if they are new to some of the exercises, they could get confused with information overload.  I would suggest explaining each pair just before that pair starts while the group are resting.
  • Depending on group size and how you want to run things, this could be run as a pair’s session.  Within each pair, person A would do the first exercise, person B the second and then alternate.  Or you could even have different pairs doing different pairs of exercises but just bare in mind this would lead to complications in explaining a lot of exercises in one go and I would advise you to still follow alternating between cardio/strength

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Blog distributed by: Mark Pearce

Mark Pearce

Owner/Manager at MAP Fitness Training

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