One of the best part about circuit workouts is that many of them require no gym equipment and those that do can usually be slightly altered so you can do them at home in your living room.
Below you will find some of my favorite workouts that I modified slightly (the original workout is hyperlinked) so that they may be done at home or in a hotel room when you’re traveling.
No fancy equipment or weights required!
Note: Simply mimic the jump rope movement if you do not have a jump rope at home. You may also substitute push ups for Kettlebell swings.
Questions of the Afternoon
- What is your favorite way to workout away from the gym? Workout DVDs? Walking outside? Circuits?
- What websites are your go-to websites for quality at-home workouts?
I’ve heard great things about BodyRock and Insanity for awesome and challenging at-home workouts but still haven’t tried any of their workouts myself.
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You’re a little bit obsessed. 🙂 But I think its great! Thanks for posting this. It will definitely be great for one of those mornings where I do not feel like driving over to the gym!
Thanks for this post, Julie!
Pin it! Pin it! Pin it! These are awesome (and have clearly been pinned by me)! Thank you so much!!!! Excellent post!!!
Thank you so much for posting these Julie! I’ve been lurking on your blog for a while, so I comment for once to tell you much I’ve enjoyed your blog, your recipes, and your workouts.
I’m a grad student at the UNC-Chapel Hill and am often short on time, so these workouts are perfect. I like doing quick 15-30 minute rounds of exercise when my motivation is flagging to give me that extra burst of energy to plow through my seemingly endless work. These will also be perfect when I go abroad (hopefully) next year to do research.
Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!
I would love to “Pin it” can you make that possible for these awesome workouts?
I too love home circuit workouts! But since I joined the gym b/c of moving into a 3rd floor apartment, I’ve been loving circuit (bodyweight/weight)+treadmill 😀 And sometimes for that extra cardio, I like to also use the stepmill.
Thanks so much for your inspiration Julie! My pinterest board is basically full of your workouts haha 🙂
p.s. and as soon as I pin one of your circuits my email gets FLOODED with re-pin notices. it’s kinda ridiculous!
LOL! thanks for pinning, amy! i really appreciate it and hope you like the workouts!
My boyfriend and I do a “Deck of Cards” workout weekly. For each suit you do a different exercise which (for us) typically involves: push-ups, lunges, an ab move, and something else (mountain climbers/burpees/jumping jacks etc). For each card you do the face value of the card for the exercise corresponding with the suit – with J/Q/K being 10 and Ace being 11. Your heart rate gets up there because there isn’t really time to rest between exercises. We get our butts kicked every week by this!
Julie, do you have any background in training or fitness? i guess i just want to understand how you put these workouts together before i try them – they look awesome, but i’d just like to know how you created these. did you base some of these off of your own experience? or did something else inspire these combos? and i totally don’t mean this in a snarky or rude way — i make my own workouts all the time, but i never give them out because my training is in psychology and i have no credentials related to fitness whatsoever. i don’t consider my own interest in fitness enough to give out advice/workouts to others.
I do BodyRock and I love love love it so much. I took a 2 week break from running because it is recommended to do once a year to avoid injury and during that time I just did the Christmas BodyRock challenge and not only did I avoid weight gain over the holidays (I ate in moderation, no dieting) but I lost 3 lbs. It’s no joke!
I love Insanity, all of Jillian Michaels’ workouts, and Turbo Jam!
you have to try the bar method! i just went to my first class today to try it out and i am addicted. you pretty much work each muscle to exhaustion- their claim is that it will make your muscles shake which i was definately feeling today especially in my quads! it’s supposed to give you a long and lean dancer’s body. They also have DVDs as well so you can do it at home.
What can you do instead of the Kettlebell swing? I do not have those and I really don’t want to have to purchase them either. Thank you
OOOh thank you very much for these!!! I needed them,i get bored so fast it´s crazy.
I usually workout at home,since I´m short on time and money.
I recently began doing a monthly challange on Bodyrock.tv and it really is awsome,very challanging yet FUN and varied.
I also like Billy Blank´s tae bo and Jillian Michaels´ workouts since they are short but intense (to mee at least).
But more than anything I enjoy walking outside,with my mp3 full of songs that make me want to walk forever:)))
This is great! I’ve been looking for some at-home circuit workouts. I tend to do a lot of the old exercisetv videos (I MISS that site!), and sometimes do Denise Austin’s vids on youtube. I’m always looking for more video workouts!
I’m a weirdo and I hate jump ropes (I always hit myself!) Will I get the same heart pumping effect if I just jump really fast in place?
Thanks for posting this and for helping me get out of my after school sit on my butt till bedtime routine!
How do your time your intervals? With a stop watch, iPhone, or do you just count? I have trouble with my iPhone so I’m looking for a better alternative.
This is fantastic!! Thank you so much for posting. 🙂
How many calories does the first (pink) circuit burn?
I like your variations and the circuit training is the name of the game. I am a virtual trainer and I train many clients online and I am always reminding them that consistency and motivation is key. I am placing my stamp of approval on the workouts Julie has listed. Home workouts is the future because my schedule is out of control and something like this is simple but very effective.
GET FIT WITH PASSION Julie
I was wondering what your thoughts were on the Pure Barre workouts…..
PERFECT. Didn’t feel like getting in my car and driving to the gym this morning and I found this on pinterest. Just perfect. Don’t stop updating!!! Thank you!
I absolutely love your website.. Excellent colors & theme.
Did you build this website yourself? Please reply back as I’m hoping to create my own personal website and would like to know where you got this from or what the theme is called. Kudos!