Science backed, sweat-inducing and seriously effective, 2-Minute Circuits with Dr. Lori Sherlock is a 60-minute water exercise video that showcases several short circuits designed to improve overall fitness and daily living activities. Deep or shallow, this pool workout will unlock peak performance for all fitness levels, beginner to advanced.
The key to results in 2 Minute Circuits is intensity variability. To train for life we need to be prepared to alternate between short rapid bursts of action to long duration activities and everything in between. This requires an exercise program that taps into all the body’s energy/metabolic systems. There is no one better to design such a workout than Lori Sherlock, Ed.D. a professor in the School of Medicine at West Virginia University. She coordinates and teaches the aquatic therapy curriculum within the division of Exercise Physiology. 2 Minute Circuits is Lori’s debut video on the Poolfit App.
2 Minute Circuit Pool Workout-at-a-Glance
This 60-minute pool workout includes an extended warm-up and cool down and six exercise segments. There is no equipment required other than a flotation belt if exercising in deep water.
Circuits Round 1: Total Body Movement 1
This first exercise segment includes three 2-minute circuits. Total body movement is achieved with a tri-planar focus. Tri-Planar refers to a combination of all three movement planes of the body. Selecting exercises in all three planes ensures a full body workout and optimal muscle balance.
Circuits Round 2: Total Body Movement 2
This segment includes three more 2-minute circuits. By now, exercise participants are likely noticing the changes in energy demands for each circuit. The 10 seconds on and 10 seconds off taps into the energy system that requires a rapid, breathless response to a sudden all-out maximal energy demand. The aerobic endurance circuits target the energy system that provides for longer duration daily activities.
Circuits Round 3: Activities of Daily 1
This exercise segment focuses on training the body to better perform activities of daily living (ADLs), such as getting up and down from chairs, walking and putting on shoes and clothing.
Circuits Round 4: Activities of Daily Living 2
This second round of ADL training includes exercises that focus on getting in and out of a bathtub, as that is one of the leading causes of at-home injuries. It also focuses on exercises that improve getting in and out of a car as the struggle is real.
Circuits Round 5: Fitness Focus 1
The 2-minute circuits now shift towards what are referred to as the essential components of fitness, including muscular strength, muscular endurance and cardiorespiratory endurance.
Circuits Round 6: Fitness Focus 2
Continuing on with a fitness focus, this segment focuses on flexibility and coordination.
Below, Lori talks more about the science behind 2-Minute Circuits and then read on regarding the importance of including both aerobic endurance and high intensity exercise in your fitness regimen.
Training for Life with Intensity Variability
High Intensity Bursts
Sometimes we are called upon to engage in immediate high demands of energy, such as catching a falling object, dodging a hazard, climbing an unexpected flight of stairs, or racing through the airport due to a short connection. The typical way we train for this in water exercise is with High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT). Poolfit has several HIIT videos that feature cycles of high intensity exercise alternated with lower intensity exercise or rest. The rest is crucial to results. The higher the intensity of the work cycles, the greater the need for rest. This type of exercise is considered anaerobic training and taps into the body’s energy systems that include the ATP-PC System and the anaerobic glycolysis system. These are the systems we tap into for short, quick energy demands. The science behind anaerobic exercise suggests that more body fat is burned when intensity is varied from work to rest throughout a workout and the metabolic rate stays elevated for a longer period of time following HIIT workouts.
Aerobic Endurance Training
During an aerobic or steady state exercise session, the heart rate stays within a set range, for example 60-80%, for an extended period, such as 30-minutes. Working at a steady state of energy expenditure allows the body to provide oxygen during the extended cardio activity. This taps into the body’s oxidative energy system and prepares the body for longer duration activities, such as long walks or a day of errands or sight-seeing.
2-Minute Circuits is designed to combine all the body’s energy systems to better train participants for anything and everything life throws at them. Poolfit extends a big thank you to Lori for sharing her expertise and designing a workout for subscribers that will help them live their best life. Stay tuned, there are four other pool workouts with Lori that will be posting over the summer and fall of 2025.
