How long should each station be?

Forty seconds of work with twenty to change over suits most circuits. Shorter than thirty seconds and half the station is spent getting into position.

How much rest between laps?

Sixty seconds is a reasonable default. If the last station of a lap is falling apart, the lap rest is too short before the station time is too long.

Four to six. Fewer and the same muscles come back around before they have recovered; more and nobody remembers the order without reading it off the wall.

Does it name the exercises?

Yes. Name each station and the clock shows the one you are working and the one coming up next, so the changeover needs no thinking.

Timer

Circuit timer

Work, move to the next station, work again. Set the station time, the changeover rest and the number of laps for up to twelve exercises.

The timer

Work

Changeover

Laps

Lap rest

Stations, one per line

Named stations appear on the clock as they come up. Leave it as it is to run one unnamed block.

The clock runs fullscreen and keeps the screen awake. It needs JavaScript, so with scripting off the plan below is the whole session written out.

Total: 13:10
Working: 8:00
Periods: 24

01ReadyGet ready0:10
02WorkStation 10:40
03RestRest0:20
04WorkStation 20:40
05RestRest0:20
06WorkStation 30:40
07RestRest0:20
08WorkStation 40:40
09RestLap rest1:00
10WorkStation 10:40
11RestRest0:20
12WorkStation 20:40
13RestRest0:20
14WorkStation 30:40
15RestRest0:20
16WorkStation 40:40
17RestLap rest1:00
18WorkStation 10:40
19RestRest0:20
20WorkStation 20:40
21RestRest0:20
22WorkStation 30:40
23RestRest0:20
24WorkStation 40:40

How it works

A circuit runs several exercises in a fixed order, one after another, with a short changeover between stations and a longer rest at the end of each lap. This timer counts all three of those periods and tells you which station you are standing at.

Name your stations, set the work and changeover seconds, choose how many laps, and start. The screen shows the current station, the lap number and what is coming next, which is the information a circuit actually needs. Everything else stays off the screen.

Four stations at forty seconds of work and twenty of changeover makes a four minute lap. Three laps with a minute of rest between them is fourteen minutes of training, and that is a complete conditioning session for most people.

Station order carries more of the result than the timings do. Put movements that use the same muscles apart from each other, so the legs are recovering while the arms work. A circuit of squats, lunges, step-ups and jumps is four leg stations in a row, and it stops being a circuit by the second lap.

Watch the last station of each lap. It is where fatigue shows first, and a station that is falling apart there is telling you the lap rest is too short, not that you need to try harder.

Questions

How long should each station be?: Forty seconds of work with twenty to change over suits most circuits. Shorter than thirty seconds and half the station is spent getting into position.
How much rest between laps?: Sixty seconds is a reasonable default. If the last station of a lap is falling apart, the lap rest is too short before the station time is too long.
How many stations?: Four to six. Fewer and the same muscles come back around before they have recovered; more and nobody remembers the order without reading it off the wall.
Does it name the exercises?: Yes. Name each station and the clock shows the one you are working and the one coming up next, so the changeover needs no thinking.