Many people equate circuit training with light weights, conditioning or fat loss.
Not so. my bruddahs. I use circuits frequently AND with heavy weights with my own workouts, and they DO pack on muscle and strength. BUT, you gotta prepare for the pain, because this style of training can get brutal as each set continues.....
The fast pace does boost conditioning as well, which I love, but, take a look at how I crank a circuit below with HEAVY weights.
I wanna hear your thoughts on circuit training with HEAVY weights when you're done watching.
Notice I didn't mess around with light, sissy type weights. I ain't got time for training if it isn't gonna produce results for me.
I was performing the military press with 150 lbs.
Deadlifting with 365 lbs.
Still.....NOT heavy enough, plenty of room to improve.
Sprinting....well, that's NO joke when you haul ass, it's an amazing way to improve conditioning, add leg muscle and improve lower body speed and power.
As the years pass on I see less and less information available on training like a REAL Man. I cringe as more and more magazines hit the book shelves showing useless training with people standing or sitting on balance discs and stability balls.
The departure from heavy, kick ass lifting has sent many men into a testosterone devoid body and a weaker mind. The mind and body are meant to be challenged, and, a stronger mind and body make YOU a much more effective, successful person both in AND out of the weight room.
Question for You: What style of training do you use to push your mind and body to the next level? How are you constantly challenging yourself to "Man the F**K UP"?
In Strength,
--Z--
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40 Responses
yea yea yea Z!!!!
Love the heavy lifting. Rounds with that heavy sh*%t is sure to test you. When you train hard like that you get in the zone. For me it’s when time seems to stop and it’s just me and the gym. I have no thoughts except of cruishing iron and getting freaking huge. It takes a few minutes, but I can feel myself start to turn green. Ha Ha!
I’m not an athlete, but like you say, I train like one. Circuits for strength and conditioning have been my MO for several months now and I’ve NEVER been stronger or in better shape. What has amazed me is how well resistance-based conditioning has translated into other areas. Examples: I ran my PR in a 5K after not having done any running for a couple months leading up to the race (aside from sprint intervals). Also, we just started playing pickup hoop again after a couple month layoff. Literally, all the other guys were dying the first night and I felt great (played horrible, but felt great!) All that while my strength levels go up? Yeah, I’ll take that.
Can’t wait to work in some kettlebell stuff!
Confused about “your” Hybrid Kettlebell Course. I’m guessing this is just affiliate marketing (which is cool), but to be clear it’s Chris and Craig that developed the course, right? Or did you have a hand in it, too?
Hey Zach,
Good point! I’ve been doing circuits and I just started doing some complexes recently and they have been kicking my A$$! I figured as I continue to increase the weight that they would help to build muscle as well (given a caloric surplus.) Right now I’m burning some fat so I’m in caloric deficit, but I can still feel/see that my body is definitely changing and growing stronger.
Keep posting the good stuff, bro!
Brandon
HardgainerMuscleBuilding.com
Jesse ur kickin ass on the court and the weight room bruddah, nice!
The Hybrid Kettlebell Course is a Bonus I gave them, it’s a 6 week course, mixing bodyweight and kettlebells, so YES, I created the course.
It’s a Added Bonus to their TT Kettlebell Workouts Course.
Hope that clears it up bruddah!
Brandon – keep me posted on your success w/the calorie cycling your doing, I prefer cycling carbs (which still cycles calories) but I feel better when eating less starchy carbs , more fuits and veggies!
Looks like your back is doing better man!
Now add some weight to that bar SON!! 🙂
Zach – your sick bro! way to kick some weight – these videos are great to motivate me in the morning to get me going in the gym with some adrenalin running. keep on keepin on bruddah – I used to live in Staten Island so I know dirty Jersey bro, miss that shit though – Texas is a different ball game. Thanks for all your support.
Gotta love circuits. Real time savers and are very training economy friendly! I actually did a bar complex yesterday with 110 lbs and it was brutal! Took me 23 minutes to complete…
**Completed the following for 4 rounds, best time***
Deadlift x 6
RDL x 6
Bent Row x 6
Power Clean x 6
Front Squat x 6
Push Press x 6
Back Squat x 6
Good Morning x 6
Jump Rope x 100 skips
I gotta try the press/deadlift/sprint circuit though, looks tough!!
Nice work, coach; Keep up the good work!
Zach,
I love what you’re doing!
Where did you get the bar you were doing the push presses with? I like the neutral grip. I haven’t seen too many of those around. I’ve also heard it called different things.
Omar
Another great post Zach!
dig the style of training and the intensity. Always wondered about doing circuit style training like that….so it’s good to know you can still pack on the slabs of muscle that way.
I’ve been doing squats and deads on the same day recently and love it! How often would you cycle them in together like this? Always? Once every couple months?
Love the passion…keep it up!
Matt
thanks coach Z for keeping me fired up. yours in sweat. troy
Love the intensity!
I’ve been doing circuits like this too incorporatiing heavy weights, they are BRUTAL! but what i do after heavy deadlifts or squats is do about 10 jumps front and back and side to side…these are just a killer! got any toughts on that?
also i noticed that on the military presses you used your hips to drive more power, im guesssing you do this to build more functional strength as opposed to the typical bodybuilding strength wich requires “perfect form”…i would appreciate it you expanded on this….anyway
keep tearing up the weights!
-Luis-
YES YES YES Zach!!!
I started using circuit with heavy weights couple of months ago and I am getting freakin strong. I am not one of the “big guys”
I actually stopped doing any seated workout like
shoulderpress, lat pull down etc.
I have to use a bit less weight though doing the workouts standing but it has improved my core strength and my overall strength big time.
I recently got a nice big Tractor Tire.
Looking forward to flip it & hammer it with the sledge!!
Thanks for all your clips bro.
KEEP GOING…KEEP GOING!!
best of luck
from Ireland
-Silvio-
PS: will visit you next year. Have to meet and see your place. freakin awsome…cant wait!
Tom, yo bro, niiiice! Staten Island to TX is a nice move!
Thnx for rockin the blog!
–z–
John those barbell complexes KILL!
Not even funny dude, those are pure brutality!
–z–
Omar, thnx bruddah, you can get the swiss bar from http://elitefts.com or get the log trainer bar from http://sorinex.com
they both rock BIG time!
–z–
Matt
squats and deads in same workout for me is prob too much
i will prob alternate one from the other every week to keep my back healthy and avoid overuse of same movements.
that works for me, you gotta find how u respond best bruddah!
Luis
that was a push press
you can also do a strict press, which is VERY tough!
They build serious upper body strength!
remember when doing the mil pressing, tension of entire body, especially w/out the push press!
peace bro!
–z–
Joe! congrats on the gym opening!
I’m here in Louisville chillin with Big T!
You guys are gonna crush it w/your gym and amazing knowledge!
LOVE IT!
–z–
Silvio, thnx 4 the message all the way from ireland bruddah!
you are gonna be a beast now that you’re minimizing the sitting / lying down movements
keep us posted bruddah!
–z–
Yeah nice one Z.,
I’ve been doing Barbell complexes as part of a circuit now for a couple of months. I’m surprised I’vegot the energy to type – but I’m loving the workouts.
I took advantage of your promotion of the KB REvolutions course and opted for the Deluxe version which was supposed to include your hybrid KB course but the download didn’t include it. Any ideas?
cheers
Vito
i love that type of training but im a little confused what the difference between a circuit and a complex
Vito, u da man, i’m gonna e mail Chris and let him know asap w.your e mail cc’d!
–z–
Good stuff. keep ’em coming.
Zach may God bless you and your family a million times over for sharing your training knowledge. I’ve used several of your workouts and I’ve definitely seen improvements in my general strength and also in my grip. Your workouts have also worked really well for my combat athletes. You are a great human being and I wish you the best in every endeavour.
Hey coach, glad to see you rocking the deads again. Are you still sprinting to that “other gym”? Thats some serious wrokload … how long do you try to go for or how many rounds?
Thanks a lot Z.,
Got your KB Hybrid course in the email this morning – gonna read it tonight. I’m psyched already.
Just finished my workout today – BB Complex (same one as John C. above – although I got it from T-nation) followed by some deadlifts, then a few supersets of BB Floor Press / Pullups and finishing off with some intervals using KB snatches and skipping. Job done.
laters
Vito
Coach Z,
F#CK!I love it! One of my fav tunes of all time in the background too – “Just Another Victim” by Helmet and House of Pain…best is around the 2:28 mark gets me crazy amped! Love the push-pull complex with the military press and deads! With that sprint in the mix it is a perfect cocktail of ass-whooping!
Great workout simple and brutal BEAUTIFUL *tear* hahahahaha
AGE QUOD AGIS
Christopher
keep up the good work brother
Hey Zach,
That is an awesome workout, very simply but very brutal. I was wondering do you use some of principles from Controlled Fatigue Training. I recently purchased Ori Hofmekler’s e-books on controlled fatigue training and Super Muscle Training and was wondering do you train to create Hybrid Muscles? Thank you for your input.
Z-Man!!!
What up brotha!! Circuit Training is killer for Muscle Building and staying lean at the same time! I incorporate that into my PreContest Training Program ALL THE TIME! Gunna work some circuit training into me and my bruddah’s program when he gets in! Teach the Sgt. whats up! Gotta step my game even another level! He’s a UNIT! Circuit Training Helps my Bowling game too! haha
TE
Nice video!
Your were doing it with great intensity. Definitely you will have a great body structure very soon.
Heavy circuits and/or complexes are my staple when for when I have to get scary!
Nothing gets you in better all round shape, strong, powerful and enduring.
As I said, Scary.
Just what a fighter needs
Nearly fully recovered from a bad hand injury from the kitchen (cut through my index finger and the tendon running along the top) i’ve got a 12 and 16kg kettle bell but i’m thinking of buying more and heavier.
I want a training programme to build muscle mass,loss fat and build functional strenght for my kickboxing, can kettlebells help me achieve this ? And what programme would you recomennd for this ? Lots of differrent programmes out there such as the tt kettle bell revolution ect need somthing solid that will give me the above. Thanks.
I love how you finished this post off bro!
“The departure from heavy, kick ass lifting has sent many men into a testosterone devoid body and a weaker mind. The mind and body are meant to be challenged, and, a stronger mind and body make YOU a much more effective, successful person both in AND out of the weight room.”
There was a couple years where I was focusing on really short workouts, which forced me to lower the weight significantly. Although it helped me stay lean and look good, I lost strength and didn’t gain any size. I’ve been back to incorporating a lot of strength training during the past 7 months, and man does it make a world of a difference. Not just physically, but mentally as you mentioned.
It’s funny, I was just telling my wife yesterday that after doing heavy squats or deadlifts I feel more like a man!
I change my training style every 4 weeks. Sometimes I push it to 6 weeks. Personally I like to have a couple different training styles to each program. I find it important for each program to have a strength component as well as some hypertrophy training using supersets, dropsets, 8 sets of 8, and things like that.
Thanks for the huge dose of inspiration bro.
the reason you could lift heavy was your circuit speed was sloooooowwwwww
@john: show up to my gym anytime and we’ll train together, this way instead of talking shit you can step up and walk the talk….. talkin’ shit sitting behind a computer doesn’t make you a man, show up and SHOW me…. period…. end of story.
I use to take my 5 rep max on deadlift, DB bench press, pullup front squat, and calf raise and do 3 reps/lift. 3 min rest. and as many rounds as possible in 40 min. But don’t do it 3 times a week! 😉