Achieve Your Fitness Goals With This Full Body Fat Burning Circuits Session

We’re going to let you in on a little secret: virtually nothing is more effective than HIIT (high intensity interval training) if you’re trying to achieve killer fat burn results and lose weight.

More specifically, the combination of HIIT and circuit training together will supercharge your ability to bust through fat and burn calories — even after your workout is over! 

And the best part? This training approach can be super varied and is really easy to customise, too! Plenty of fat burning exercises can be included as part of these workouts, and many don’t require any equipment whatsoever. No matter your fitness level, you can easily personalise this style of workout to suit your exact abilities — ensuring you reduce risk of injury, whilst still making the most out of your fat burn potential!

So, whether you want to burn fat in the gym or from the comfort of your home to reach your fitness goals, these killer fat burning exercise routines can be used to create your very own high intensity circuit session.

Are you ready?

Circuits and HIIT work really well together, but they are not exactly the same thing

Before getting into our super effective fat burn workout, it’s important to learn the exact differences between HIIT and circuits. 

HIIT focuses on short intervals of rest between each exercise, whereas circuits involve completing a series of exercises one after the other, with no respite in between. 

Both are super effective in burning fat and maintaining long-term weight loss, and you can easily design each to suit your requirements. For example, if you like the look of a circuit routine but don’t think you could manage each exercise without having some degree of rest, place short intervals in between each one to create a HIIT-style workout that works for you!

But don’t worry, even if you do add in a few extra breaks you’ll still reap all the benefits. Both circuits and HIIT are designed to push your body to the limit (within reason, of course!) and you’ll feel your heart rate pumping in no time, no matter how long each burst of activity lasts for.

So what’s the right combination of fat burning activity to rest time?

In short: it depends on your fitness level.

For beginners, it’s recommended to rest for twice as long as you exercise. So, you take one minute of rest for every 30 seconds of working hard. But for more advanced HIIT-aholics, exercising for twice as long as resting is likely to be more suitable.

So let’s get started. 

Your 10 minute fat burn circuit session

This workout is ideal if you don’t have much time to spare. Quick, simple and perfect for those just starting out, this fast workout is super easy to fit into your busy day — what’s more, it doesn’t require any equipment, so you can do it at home or in the park on your lunch break.

Start by doing at least 2 minutes of jogging on the spot to warm up. Then begin with 1 minute of squat kicks. Squat down as low as you can, then kick with alternate legs as you stand up. Afterwards, move onto 1 minute of jumping jacks. 

Next, complete a minute of knee smash exercises (keeping arms overhead, bring alternate knees up as high as you can whilst lowering your arms). And a final minute of squat knee lifts, bringing alternate knees up as you stand back up from a low squat. 

Be sure to leave 30 seconds of rest in between each exercise, or you could complete them one after the other if you prefer a fat burn circuit-style workout. 

Finish with another 2 minutes of jogging. 

You can repeat this circuit multiple times for a longer fat burn workout if you have more time on your hands, and can even reduce resting time if you want to push harder. 

Your 20 minute ultimate calorie burner

This workout isn’t for the faint-hearted — it’s designed to be super high-impact, for ultimate fat burn exercise results! No doubt this circuit session will get your heart racing, thanks to the multiple fast-paced moves, targeting pretty much every area of your body.

Deep breath! Let’s go...

Start with a quick 5 minute light cardio warm up, to prepare your body for intense action — jogging, cycling or cross training will do the trick. 

Then immediately begin 1 minute of burpees, followed with mountain climbers (running your feet out and in and fast as you can), and a complete set of knee smashes. 

Move onto crossover crunches while standing (making sure alternate knees and elbows touch each time), and finish with a final push of jumping jacks. 

Stick to the classic routine of one minute of exercise followed by 30 seconds of rest if you want to incorporate intervals, and end with a further 5 minutes of light cardio to warm down and allow your heart rate to slowly decrease. 

As always, feel free to extend/reduce resting times dependent on your fitness level, or you can go into full circuit beast mode and do each exercise with no rest in between. 

And be sure to stretch too — this level intensity could leave you feeling sore the next day! 

Circuits and HIIT: the perfect recipe to achieve your fitness goals

Next time you find yourself with a quick 10 or 20 minutes to spare — either at home or in the gym — why not give one of these fat burn routines a try? 

There’s absolutely zero equipment required and the circuit sessions are super easy to customise, depending on your fitness level. But whatever you choose to do, you’ll be getting a sweat on in no time — burning calories even after your workout is done.

Better still, you can even get your friends involved too! Research has consistently shown that partner workouts provide much more motivation than exercising alone, and you may even reach your fitness goals quicker if you have a workout buddy by your side. 

If you’re looking for even more fat burn motivation, check out our blog where you’ll find plenty of top workout tips. And if you’re on the lookout for ultimate sportswear essentials and training accessories sure to enhance your workouts for good, take a look at our handy women’s sportswear guide.