So I love circuit training. Maybe I’m ADD but I hate doing one thing for a super long time.

I find it easiest to push myself when I know I have only a circuit amount of reps before I can move on to the next thing.

But recently I’ve been experimenting more with doing ONE THING the entire workout.

Not just like running or VersaClimber or CARDIO…But one exercise.

Like crawling, kettlebell swings, kettlebell long cycle or battling ropes.

I just do the one activity for the whole workout.

It is torture.

And I don’t do this every day nor would I want to.

BUT mixing in one exercise workouts does have its benefits.

For one, it adds variety to your workout routine.

Two, it truly pushes your body to ultimate failure.

Three it works on your mental toughness.

I usually set a timer. You can set it for anywhere between 5 minutes to an hour depending on what you’re doing or hope to accomplish.

I then force myself to do the single activity for the entire time WITHOUT taking any breaks. (Of course sometimes my body truly fails and I have to rest for a second, but my ultimate goal is not too.)

It is difficult to keep pushing until the timer goes off because after a while everything is truly so fatigued that you don’t think you can mentally keep pushing yourself.

But you have to!

That is the one thing I like about these workouts. Unlike circuits where the harder I push the quicker I’m done, I can’t change how quickly I’m done.  And for me, that is mentally tougher to handle.

It has also show me how sometimes I give in and rest too quickly on exercises during circuits.

It’s not that I’m taking a ton of rest, but where as I used to think I was tired at 20 kb swings, I now realize even though my body is really burning at that point, I can actually hang on for at least 100.

Granted during the circuits I am doing other exercises that are making my body more tired, but mentally now I also have realized that I wasn’t pushing myself near as far as I could actually go.

So aside from the one exercise workouts being physically challenging they do really have  a mental benefit that for me has been amazing.

So if you really want to try something new (and variety is very important to your workouts!!!) and you want to challenge yourself mentally, try a one exercise workout!

Try to choose something that is challenging…you can do the exercise for any length of time that is just a little longer than you think you can handle. You don’t want to set your timer for an hour and just cruise!

And once you set the timer…DON’T GIVE UP!