What's Missing From Your Workout Routine?
For optimal performance, it is important to balance all workout styles to make sure muscles and joints stay healthy and strong.
No matter your exercise goal, you should always prepare your body with a proper warmup and relax it with a cooldown to ensure your recovery process will be ideal.
Below, you’ll find the components of a balanced workout routine, why each component is important for optimal performance, a few examples and resources.
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When to Do This |
Why Is This Important? |
Examples and Resources |
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Warmup |
· Before every workout |
· Increases blood flow and body temperature · Muscles begin to engage and prepare to perform |
· Dynamic warmup: full body movement in all planes of motion (front to back, side to side, rotational) · Foam rolling: rolling each area for 30-60 seconds or as needed |
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Strength Training |
· 2-3 times per week depending on your goals and what you’re training for |
· Protects and strengthens joints · Increases mobility and balance · Increases bone density, strength and muscular strength/endurance |
· Can be bodyweight strength exercises or exercises with weights added · Exercise Form Library: Watch video tutorials of different strength exercises |
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Cardio |
· 2-3 times per week depending on your goals and what you’re training for · 150 minutes or more per week |
· Increases heart strength and efficiency · Increases muscular and cardiovascular endurance |
· Walking, running, cycling, swimming, playing cardio-based sports, using cardio machines or taking cardio-based fitness classes |
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Yoga or Stretching |
· 1-2 times per week |
· Increases flexibility and breathing regulation · Boosts mental health · Decreases stress |
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Cooldown |
· After every workout |
· Decreases heart rate back to resting/normal rhythm · Redistributes blood to body · Loosens joints · Relaxes contracted muscles |
· Static stretching: holding a pose for 45 seconds or more · Foam rolling: rolling each area for 30-60 seconds or as needed |
When building your weekly workouts, remember the importance of recovery and rest days. Proper recovery can and should be completed between your workouts, and it includes diversifying your routine. This means varying your exercise type, selection and intensity. Adding in recovery and rest days is just as important as a workout itself. On rest days, this includes regular stretching, moving gently (e.g., a short walk) and foam rolling.
How can you add balance to your workout this week?
About the author
Ms. Alexandra Bollinger is a Health and Wellness Coach on the Slainte Fitness team at USLI. She enjoys staying active by strength training and going for daily walks and runs. Ms. Bollinger also enjoys working one-on-one with community members and customers to ensure they are on the right track to living a healthy lifestyle!