Balanced Training Program

Long-time trainer Bob Whelan has always been an advocate of what’s known as balanced training, and we’ll design a program for that in this article.

This type of training trains the entire body in a balanced manner, consisting of an equal amount of pushing and pulling movements, along with compound lower body movements, with an emphasis on total body development.

For a balanced workout, you want to incorporate horizontal and vertical pushing movements as well as horizontal and vertical pulling movements. Examples of vertical pushing would be barbell presses or dumbbell presses. Vertical pull exercises would consist of chin-ups, pull-ups, or pulldowns. Horizontal pushes would be barbell or dumbbell bench presses and horizontal pulling movements would be dumbbell or barbell rows.

Below is an example of a balanced training program:

Balanced Training Program

Day one:

Bench press 2×6-12

Rows 2×6-12

Squats 1×12-20

Crunches 2 x 12-25

Day two:

Overhead Press 2×6-12

Pull-ups or Pulldowns 2 x 6-12

Deadlift 1x 12-20

Crunches 2 x 12-25

Notes: Train twice a week with horizontal movements on the first day and vertical movements on the second day. Leg and abdominal work will be in both workouts. You can adapt this to any set and rep range you want. You can also add a finisher like Farmer’s Walks or carry sandbags to complete the routine. You can also do one set to failure for each exercise if you wish. Feel free to make adjustments to suit your needs.

Understand that to be successful in any weight training program, hard work is a must! Half-hearted effort does nothing for you. If you are new to weight training or severely out of shape, consult a doctor first. End of disclaimer.