Burn Fat and Build Muscle With These Circuit Training Exercises and Sample Workouts

Muscles worked: Quadriceps, hamstrings, glutes, calves, hip flexors, erector spinae, core

Benefits: A fundamental movement pattern everyone should master, the squat engages multiple muscle groups and can easily be adapted to your fitness level. Beginners can start with bodyweight squats before advancing to the goblet squat. Experienced lifters can choose between a front squat vs. back squat, with the former emphasizing your quads and core. 

How to do it:

1. Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart and your toes pointed slightly out while holding a kettlebell at chest level.
2. Engage your core, maintain an upright torso, and descend into the squat position by bending your knees and driving your hips back.
3. Lower yourself down until your thighs are parallel with the floor.
4. Push through your heels and extend your legs to return to the starting position.
5. Repeat for the desired number of repetitions or time.

RELATED: Heel-Elevated Goblet Squat 

Muscles worked: Quadriceps, hamstrings, glutes, core

Benefits: Unilateral exercises like the lunge are effective at addressing muscular imbalances. Just like the squat, you can train this fundamental movement pattern in a number of ways based on your experience level. Beginners can stick with the bodyweight version until they have the necessary mobility and strength to handle weights. Those with resistance training experience can hold a pair of the best dumbbells (or kettlebells) by their side or even put a loaded barbell on their back for walking lunges. 

How to do it: 

1. Hold a pair of dumbbells by your side.
2. Engage your core, maintain an upright torso, and take a step forward with your right foot.
3. Lower yourself to the floor so your left knee is just above the ground and your right leg forms a 90-degree angle. 
4. Drive off your right foot and take a step forward with your left leg. 
5. Lower yourself to the floor so your right knee is just above the ground and your left leg forms a 90-degree angle.
6. Maintain a steady pace, alternating sides for the desired amount of time or distance. 

RELATED: Split Squat vs Lunge

Muscles worked: Pectoralis major, pectoralis minor, deltoids, triceps, trapezius, latissimus dorsi, rectus abdominis 

Benefits: A timeless upper-body exercise that also engages your core and glutes, the push-up is well-suited for circuit training since you have plenty of flexibility to make it as challenging (or manageable) as you’d like. The standard version will primarily work your pectorals (chest muscles) and triceps. You can also take a more targeted approach with a variation like the diamond push-up, which places even more emphasis on the horseshoe-shaped muscle on the back of your upper arms.  

How to do it: 

1. Start in a plank position with your hands slightly wider than shoulder-width apart.
2. Lower your body until your chest is just above the floor, keeping a straight line from your head to heels.
3. Push back up to the starting position by extending your arms. 
4. Repeat for the desired number of reps.

RELATED: 17 Push-Up Variations

Muscles worked: Latissimus dorsi, biceps, rhomboids, trapezius, serratus anterior, pectoralis major

Benefits: Pull-ups are one of the best bodyweight exercises for developing upper-body strength. They also help enhance your grip strength, leading to better performance in pull-based exercises like the deadlift. 

How to do it: 

1. Grab a pull-up bar with your palms facing away from you, hands shoulder-width apart.
2. Enter a dead hang with your arms fully extended.
3. Pull yourself up until your chin is above the bar.
4. Lower yourself back down with control. 
5. Repeat for the desired number of reps.

RELATED: Best Pull-Up Variations

Muscles worked: Deltoids, latissimus dorsi, triceps, pectorals, quadriceps, glutes, hamstrings, calves, trapezius, core

Benefits: A low-impact, full-body exercise that tests your strength and stamina, mountain climbers require little space and no equipment. They do, however, require good coordination and core strength. They’re effective at raising your heart rate and getting your blood pumping—especially if you drive your knees toward your chest at a fast pace. 

How to do it:

1. Start in a plank position.
2. Bring your right knee toward your chest.
3. Quickly switch legs, bringing your left knee toward your chest while pushing your right leg back.
4. Continue alternating legs rapidly for the desired number of reps or time.

RELATED: Best Low-Impact Exercises

Muscles worked: Rectus abdominis, obliques, transverse abdominis, erector spinae quadriceps, glutes, hamstrings, hip flexors, deltoids, rhomboids

Benefits: Whether you perform them as part of your warm-up or training session, kettlebell swings get just about every muscle group firing. This compound exercise encourages proper hip-hinge mechanics and forces you to coordinate your upper and lower body to allow for smooth swinging. 

How to do it: 

1. Stand with your feet about shoulder-width apart, holding a kettlebell by the handle with both hands, letting it hang directly in front of you with your arms fully extended. 
2. Engage your core, maintain a neutral spine, and hinge at your hips by pushing them back. 
3. Explosively drive your hips forward, using the momentum to swing the kettlebell upward until it’s parallel to the floor. While this is the finish position for the Russian kettlebell swing, the American version requires you to swing the kettlebell all the way over your head.
4. Carefully lower the kettlebell back to the starting position and immediately cycle into the next rep. 
5. Maintain a steady rhythm for the desired number of reps or time. 

RELATED: Double Kettlebell Swing

Muscles worked: Pectorals, triceps, rhomboids, latissimus dorsi, quadriceps, hamstrings, glutes, calves, core

Benefits: Do I like doing burpees? Not necessarily (and I’m not sure anyone does). However, they’re a great full-body exercise that can help enhance your cardio capacity, agility, and overall athleticism. Combining elements of a push-up with a squat jump should leave you feeling completely gassed by the last rep. 

How to do it:

1. Start in a standing position.
2. Drop into a squat position with your hands on the ground in front of you.
3. Kick your feet back into a plank position.
4. Perform a push-up.
5. Jump your feet back to the squat position.
6. Jump up explosively with your arms extended overhead. 
7. Repeat for the desired number of reps.

RELATED: The 12 Best Burpee Alternatives

Muscles worked: Hamstrings, glutes, hip flexors, rectus abdominis, erector spinae

Benefits: The step-up exercise is a great way to simultaneously work on your aerobic capacity and lower-body strength. In addition, this unilateral exercise can help fix muscular weaknesses or imbalances by isolating each leg. 

How to do it: 

1. Stand in front of a plyo box or weight bench, holding a pair of dumbbells or kettlebells by your sides. 
2. Step onto the box or bench with your right foot. 
3. Push through your heel, extend your right leg, and drive your left knee into the air explosively. 
4. Place your left foot back on the floor, followed by your right foot. 
5. Repeat on the other side, alternating for the desired number of reps or time.

Expert tip: Stick with just your body weight if you don’t have the coordination or confidence to hold onto weights and step up…yet.  

RELATED: Best Plyo Boxes

Muscles worked: Hamstrings, glutes, erector spinae, rectus abdominis

Benefits: As much as I like the conventional barbell deadlift for building a strong, stable posterior chain and massive upper back, I prefer a dumbbell or kettlebell Romanian deadlift for circuit training. Changing weights on a barbell is much less time-efficient, and it can be difficult to find enough space in a commercial gym to set it up and still have room to perform other exercises. So, for the sake of time and real estate, stick with kettlebells or dumbbells and hit your hammies hard.  

How to do it: 

1. Stand with your feet about hip-width apart, holding a pair of dumbbells or kettlebells directly in front of you. 
2. Engage your core, maintain a neutral spine, and hinge at your hips. 
3. Keeping the weights as close to your shins as possible, begin lowering them toward the floor until you feel a deep stretch in your hamstrings. 
4. Bring your hips forward and slowly lift your upper body to return to the starting position, making sure to keep a flat back throughout. 
5. Repeat for the desired number of reps or time.  

RELATED: Romanian Deadlift vs Deadlift

Muscles worked: Latissimus dorsi, rhomboids, trapezius, biceps, rectus abdominis, erector spinae, hamstrings, glutes

Benefits: Bent-over rows can help you develop a strong, muscular back and stable core no matter which type of weight you use. This posterior chain builder also engages your glutes and hamstrings, making it as much of a lower-body exercise as it is an upper body one.

How to do it: 

1. Grab a loaded barbell with your hands about shoulder width-apart and let it hang in front of you. (You can also use a pair of dumbbells or kettlebells.) 
2. Engage your core, hinge at your hips, and bend your knees slightly.
3. Maintain a flat back and pull the weight toward your chest. 
4. Squeeze your shoulder blades at the top of the movement, then carefully lower the weight back down. 
5. Repeat for the desired number of reps. 

RELATED: Posterior Chain Exercises