Circuit training is one of the easiest and best ways to structure your workouts.

Whatever your fitness goals are, circuit training can help. That’s because it’s such a simple, open-ended concept that it can be applied to most types of sessions, whether it’s a high-intensity fat-burning bodyweight blast, or a strength workout that includes several rounds of heavyweight moves.

The only real rule of circuit training is that you perform a round of exercises in a row. Generally you’ll do several rounds of those exercises and work in defined periods, broken down by reps or time.

The most common kind of circuit training involves working at a decent intensity doing either bodyweight moves or exercises with light weights, so you can keep the pace high and ramp up your heart rate. This results in both strength and cardiovascular benefits from the workout, and you can also line up a mix of exercises that ensure you’re hitting muscles all over the body in one session.

That all-encompassing approach makes circuit training especially good for beginners who aren’t dedicating individual gym sessions to sculpting different areas of the body according to a carefully defined training schedule. With circuit training, you can work the entire body and improve your cardio fitness – all in a workout that can be as short as 15 minutes.

Below you’ll find all manner of circuit training workouts that will help you hit many different kinds of fitness goal, but to get you started here’s a 15-minute bodyweight session that will burn a load of calories.

15-Minute Bodyweight Fat-Loss Circuit

Having a kit-free go-to circuit means you can lose fat anywhere, any time. Trainer Anthony Bingham has you covered with this simple three-exercise workout. Do each move for 30 seconds, rest for a minute, and repeat five times to get a full-body fat loss workout in less than 15 minutes.

1 Jump squat

“For an added test, alternate between narrow and wide stance,” says Bingham. “Explode out of each squat so your feet come off the floor.”

2 Plank pike

“Get into a plank, resting on your forearms. Lower your hips to the floor, then crunch your abs to move your hips as high as possible in a pike position.”

3 Tuck burpee

“Go chest to floor. On the jump section drive your knees up as if trying to tuck them in to your chest. Use your hands to measure the consistency of your tuck height – and push your limits!”

Written by Nick Harris-Fry for Coach and legally licensed through the Matcha publisher network. Please direct all licensing questions to legal@getmatcha.com.