4 circuit training to improve your badminton preparation

In this specific article, Hongyan and Julie explain how circuit training exercises will enhance your ability to: 
-    strengthen different parts of your body
-    Improve your cardio capacity
-    Improve your badminton skills under pressure

Circuit training is a fun, quick and easy way to practise for badminton, and especially easy to manage for groups in badminton clubs. But it is also possible to do it on your own. 

The concept of circuit training is to do the exercises one after the other with little or no rest between exercises – you can rest a bit more after each circuit. 

Why should you include circuit training in your preparation?

This type of exercises allows you to work on many different parts of your body in a very short time and all at once. Cardio workout is often also included in circuit training because there is hardly any rest between exercises. Circuit training is fun, motivating and it can be quite intense. It’s easily adaptable to badminton groups, where you can, for example, create challenges between two teams to see who finishes the training first (for circuit 4 for instance). And it is also quite specific to badminton as you can include quite a lot of features on court and with shuttlecocks. 

How to bring efficiency with circuit training?
 
It is important, first, to warm up well before each circuit, both your joints and muscles. Also, try to aim at a specific target for each circuit – some are more dedicated to strengthening the body muscles, others will reinforce your agility strength, or explosivity. It’s good to change the type of circuit from one time to the next, in order to gain greater overall efficiency and improve different areas of your game.

Circuit 1: Strengthen the upper and lower body and core workout
 

What you need: one elastic band, 1 heavy racquet, 2 bottles of water (1.5L) or 2 body weights, a floor mat.
Timing: Level 1 – do each exercise for 30 sec then rest for 15 sec. Level 2 – 45 sec /15 sec. Level 3 – 1min 15 sec / 15 sec. At the end of each circuit, you can rest for 2 to 3 minutes. Repeat the circuit 2 to 3 times.

1.    Smash with elastic band and heavy racquet 
2.    Lunge on right leg, then left leg
3.    Arm fully stretched, holding the water bottle, then flex your forearm towards you.
4.    Reversed crunch, then legs forward
5.    Static “chair” exercise: stay for 20 sec / 30 sec / 40 sec depending on level, then 10 jumps
6.    Plank
7.    Squat on one leg on a bench
8.    Side core workout
9.    10 push-ups + 5 burpees

Circuit 2: Work on reinforcement, proprioception (awareness of the position and movement of the body) and agility
 

Timing: Level 1 – do each exercise for 20 sec then rest for 10 sec. Level 2 – 30 sec /10 sec. Level 3 – 40 sec / 10 sec.

At the end of each circuit, you can rest for 2 to 3 minutes. Repeat the circuit 2 to 3 times.

1.    Mountain climbers
2.    Between two bottles separated by 2 metres, move around in “8 shapes” in “chassés steps”
3.    Same as exercise 2, but forward and backward
4.    Jump rope
5.    Push-ups (on your knee or normal, depending on your level)
6.    Plank on your hands. Place an object between your hands, and touch it with right arm then left arm
7.    On a straight line, hop on one leg either side of the line.

Circuit 3: Work on your explosivity and multi shuttle skills
 

What you need: shuttlecocks, a badminton racquet, two shuttlecock boxes, one heavy racquet or a weight of 10-15 kg.
Timing: Level 1- do each exercise for 45 sec then rest for 15 sec. Level 2 – 1 min /15 sec. Level 3 – 1min 15 sec / 15 sec. At the end of each circuit, you can rest for 2 to 3 minutes. Repeat the circuit 2 to 3 times. 

These exercises combine non badminton exercises with badminton exercises. Share the time equally between both.

1.    Lateral jumps between two boxes + stick smash with your hand while intercepting right and left
2.    “Clean and jerk”10 times with a weight of 10-15 kg or with a heavy racquet, 10 smashes, then multi shuttle smash with a normal racquet.
3.    Lunge with a jump squat, then late defences on 4 corners
4.    Jumps from a bench then net smash / kill
5.    Heavy racquet or weights (2 kg or 1.5L bottle) to play defence, then play against a wall.

Circuit 4: Work on your cardio capacity and shadow movement 

Timing: do this set of exercises with no rest. At the end of each circuit, you can rest for 2 minutes. The main idea is to try and perform this circuit as fast as possible to work on your cardio. You can make two teams play one against the other to bring a bit of competition and intensity.

1.    Jump rope: simple or double jumps, 30 to 50 each, depending on your level
2.    Shuffle step forwards and backwards over 15 metres (or the length of the badminton court)
3.    Side shuffle steps from one side of the court to the other (external lines): back and forth 3 times
4.    Lateral defence shadow drill footwork, 5 shuttlecocks back and forth
5.    Sprint forward and backwards for 15m, twice.

Hongyan’s tip: I love to do these exercises with music. It brings a good atmosphere, and they seem easier to do. You can also download music specifically made for fitness, which can give a specific tempo or timing for your work out.

Julie’s tip: You can use variation of times for these exercises. Feel free to shorten the times of rest between exercises, for example, if you feel like you are in good form or feeling up to it.