CircuitWorks LA: Perfect for your 8-Second Attention Span
The 411
In the ever-expanding world of HIIT workouts, CircuitWorks earns its title by keeping the intervals moving. 40-seconds a pop (done twice with a 10-second break in between) and then it's moving right along. The average attention span these days is 8 seconds (that’s shorter than a goldfish’s, according to a study by Microsoft) so the constant rotations at CircuitWorks accommodate. There is no time to fix your Lululemon ‘namastay put thong’ or check your FB feed and certainly no time to get bored.
CircuitWorks shares the heart rate zone model with OrangeTheory Fitness (OTF) and I’m not sure which came first. Participants wear a heart rate monitor and your zone (% of max heart rate) and calories burned are displayed on a monitor throughout class. The goal is to get to the orange zone (this is the hardest-working zone at CircuitWorks – there is no red zone like at OTF) and stay there as long as possible. At the end of class, the screen displays the total percentage of time you spent in each zone and total # of calories burned. This information is also emailed to you right after class.
The fast pace keeps the heart pounding and the sweat dripping. The wide variety of resistance exercises hit your entire body and the treadmill intervals (which occur after every single weight rotation) are intense. Steep inclines and very fast paces. But again, only 40 seconds. Twice.
I left with a mixed feeling about how quick the intervals are at CircuitWorks. The upside is it really encourages you to go all out. I pushed it to the max every time because it was always about to be over. But it also felt a bit frenetic and in some cases, I had barely sorted out the correct form with the weights (or desired incline & speed on the treadmill) before it was time to move on. At least each rotation is done twice, so if you don’t get it during the first 40 seconds, you have another shot. Ultimately, the class absolutely met my standard exercise goals: 1) the workout was thorough and 2) I was pushed past my comfort level.
Class
As a newcomer, before class, I was shown an intro video, which had no words and was only helpful because I’ve done similar workouts before (read: not amazing).
The class started with some basic stretching, which was nice and I would’ve liked the same at the end too. Then the instructor quickly went through all the rotations we would be doing.
Unlike OrangeTheory, everyone rotates individually. Half the class is spread out doing weight intervals and half the class is on the treadmill, then everyone switches. At each weight station, there is a mounted iPad demo’ing the exercise (super helpful). Some examples of these intervals: single-leg deadlift with free weights, plank with alternating free-weight rows, squats standing on 2 Bocu balls while holding a weight and kettlebell squats. And again after each weight exercise, you’re back to the treadmill to pound it out, fast and furious.
In the middle of the class, we took a “commercial break” which turned out to be 2 minutes of non-stop burpees, into wide jump squats into split jump squats. That’s your idea of a break too, right?
Finally, at the end of class, everyone did abs on the floor for about 5 minutes. It may have been a little hard to peel myself off the mat when the 60 minutes were complete.
Vibe
It had a somewhat impersonal feel but that could’ve been because people seemed to be there to get down to business. Not a lot of shmoozing. Though not really space for it, anyway. The front desk staff was friendly and welcoming.
Space
It’s a modest space, with a teeny entranceway to sign in, a small-ish workout room, one bathroom, and one water fountain. There are cubbies for your things and…that’s about it. Everything you need to get in, get it done and get out. It was also pretty hot in the room, but an industrial floor fan was put on in the front doorway about halfway through and that helped.
Instructor
My coach was Jeff Breunig (@beardsandbandanas.us) and he competently shepherded everyone through the millions of rotations. He walked around providing some useful form corrections and gave timely (shouted) encouragement during the particularly killer treadmill intervals. Especially during the final sprint, his presence behind me kept my fingers from sneakily – and prematurely - hitting the down button on both incline and speed.
Jeff confided that he used to work at OrangeTheory but likes CircuitWorks better because of the super quick rotations, which prevent boredom, particularly on the cardio machines.
$$
There is an intro offer for $79/month of unlimited classes and after that, regular monthly unlimited is $179 (this includes 3 months of custom meal plans). Other pricing options include 4 classes a month for $79, 8 classes a month for $119 or 10/20/30 class packs at $260, $480 and $660 respectively. A single class is $28 and monthly meal planning is $9.99.
