What makes a well-rounded workout? How to get your best workout

Looking to become more well-rounded in your health and fitness? Here’s what a well-rounded routine may look like.

Fitness trends come and go, but your body and health always stay with you. We previously discussed the benefits of cross training and how to start cross training. If you’re keen on creating a more well-rounded fitness program but don’t know what that entails, read on. (Technically, we could just direct you to the Ganbaru app where you can run multiple programs concurrently and start training with different fitness styles immediately — but here’s more context.)

What does well-rounded mean?

A well-rounded workout means you’re not neglecting any area of your fitness. If you’re always strength training, you may want to look at mobility. If you’re always doing static movement, you may consider cardio.

It can be as simple as that, but to dive deeper, it is said that there are 5 different areas of fitness: strength, balance, flexibility, core, and aerobic training.

There’s more.

• Strength includes isometric and isotonic movements, fast and slow tempos, and more
• Balance includes single and dual leg movements, static and dynamic, and more
• Flexibility includes stretching, loaded stretches, mobility training, static and dynamic, and other forms of stretching movement such as yoga and pilates
• Core includes isolated and compound movements, rotation and extension, and more
• Aerobic training includes cardio like LISS and HIIT, circuit training, low and high impact cardio, and more

So, there isn’t just variation in the fitness styles (i.e. weighlifting, yoga, and running) and the way you do it (i.e. swimming, running, and cycling for cardio), but there’s also variety in training styles (as per list above).

Sounds overwhelming, we know. But it’s not a checklist that you have to go through. You can make things super simple just by incorporating variety into your fitness plan.

You need to be consistent with your key movements in a program, yes, but don’t be afraid to try other exercises or fitness styles either. While some moves may be better than others for a specific purpose, i.e. growing your lats, the “less impressive” move will have its own benefits too.

Don’t worry about the perfect technique, exercise, or program, because there isn’t one. But we think Ganbaru comes pretty damn close. It has everything you may need regarding range across programs, fitness styles, exercises, and program formats. (7-day free trial here.)

3 things you can do today:

• Consider your fitness goals and set your priorities 
• Include more of what you do least
• Get enough sleep and rest

Are you thinking of adding anything new to your routine? We’d love to hear from you! You can start a conversation in the comments below.