Circuits · Guide

Timing circuits: rounds, work and rest

By ·

Who this is for

You like circuits: a handful of movements, done back to back, for rounds. Maybe you train at home with a kettlebell and a mat, maybe you finish your lifting days with one, maybe you run a class. What you want is a clock that suits the session, and a way to stop losing count of rounds.

This guide sets out three ways to time a circuit, when each fits, and how to choose station lengths and rest. It is not a programme. If you are new to this kind of training, coming back from injury, or have a health condition, check with a professional before adding training. Treat every number here as a starting point you adjust.

Three ways to time a circuit

Rounds for time

You set the work: say four rounds of 10 kettlebell swings, 10 push-ups, 15 bodyweight squats and a 200 m run. Then you finish it as fast as you can with good form, and the clock tells you how long it took.

This suits a benchmark. Run the same circuit every few weeks and the time tells you whether you are fitter. It also suits days when you want to push. The risk is that form slips as you chase the clock, so choose movements you can do well when tired, and loads you could manage for twice the reps when fresh.

Fixed work and rest

Each station gets a fixed slot of work, then a fixed rest, and the clock moves you on. Forty seconds of work and twenty of rest is a common start; thirty and thirty is gentler. The total time is set before you start, which makes it easy to plan around.

This suits mixed groups and conditioning days, and it suits movements that are hard to count, like a plank or a carry. Because the clock sets the pace, you set the effort: work hard enough that the last ten seconds are a fight, and no harder.

Rounds against a cap

You set a time cap, say 12 minutes, and do as many rounds as you can before it runs out. Your score is the rounds.

This suits a day when you want a fixed session length but a score to beat. Pace matters more than in the other two: go out too fast and the last minutes fall apart. Pick a pace you could hold for the whole cap, and count on the rounds rising over the weeks as your pace improves.

Choosing station lengths and rest

  • Longer stations, lighter work. For stations of 45 seconds or more, choose movements you can keep moving through: step-ups, rowing, carries.
  • Shorter stations, harder work. For 20 to 30 seconds, you can use harder movements, like burpees or heavier swings, because the slot ends before form goes.
  • Rest that matches the goal. Short rest, a quarter to a half of the work, keeps your heart rate up. Rest equal to the work lets you hit each station harder.
  • Rest between rounds. One to two minutes between rounds is common in a long circuit, and it lets you keep the quality of each round. In a short one you may not need any.
  • Alternate body parts. Put a lower-body movement after an upper-body one, so one area recovers while the other works.

Start with fewer rounds than you think you can do. Add a round, or a little time to each station, when the last round feels controlled.

Build it in One Rep Closer

A session in One Rep Closer is a chain of blocks, and a template is that chain saved so you can run it again. To build one, go to the Templates tab, tap +, then Add block. Add your movements with Add movement, and tap Save. To train, go to the Train tab, tap Pick a template, then Start workout.

Rounds for time: a Circuit or For Time block

Use a Circuit block, with Rounds set to 4 and the movements added in order. A Circuit block holds as many movements as you add, and the same exercise can appear more than once. During the session the screen names each movement in turn. A movement set by reps, distance or calories waits for your tap; a movement set by time counts down and moves on by itself. The summary shows the circuit’s total time.

If you would rather see one running clock and tap only once per round, use a For Time block instead. The screen shows one clock and the round number, and you tap once when each round is done. The app records your time. When a template is that single For Time block, the summary shows your time against the last run of that template, and your fastest time is kept as a benchmark record.

Fixed work and rest: an Interval block

Use an Interval block. Set Work (s), Rest (s) and Rounds, or start from a preset: EMOM sets 60 seconds of work and no rest, and Tabata sets 20 seconds on and 10 off for 8 rounds. The block runs work and rest for each round and moves on by itself, with no tap. When the block has a rest time, sounds and haptics mark the start of work and of rest, and a 3-2-1 countdown plays as each rest runs out.

The screen shows the round and the clock, not the movement name, so keep the station order in your head or on a whiteboard. An Interval block records the rounds completed, not the reps you did in each one.

Rounds against a cap: an AMRAP block

Use an AMRAP block with a Time cap and the movements. The ring drains with the cap, and the number inside it is your rounds: tap the ring once for each round. The block ends itself when the cap runs out and records the rounds completed. It records whole rounds, so reps into an unfinished round are not recorded. When a template is a single AMRAP block, your best rounds are kept as a record.

Rest between circuit rounds

A Circuit block has no rest-between-rounds setting. There are two ways round it. If every round should have the same work and rest, use an Interval block instead. Or end each round with a movement set by time, such as an easy Run set to one minute, which counts down and moves on by itself when the time is up.

Templates and the free plan

The free plan has no limit on how many workouts you log. It keeps 2 templates, so if you want all three circuits above, keep the two you run most and edit one of them on the day you want the third. Premium removes the limit; see pricing for the details.

Where to go next

The circuits page covers the Circuit screen and the blocks around it. For the two most common timed formats side by side, read EMOM vs AMRAP. Every session, circuits and lifts alike, lands in the same history, so you can look back over a month and see your times and rounds move.