How to Stop Overthinking Your Workouts and Build a Balanced Weekly Fitness Plan
By Kelan Ern Last updated: 12/18/2025
This Thanksgiving week (which happens to be me birthday) someone asked:
“How the heck do you fit it all in?”
(Aka how do you fit in cardio workouts, weight-lifting, plyometrics, cross-training, physical therapy exercises – when there are only so many hours each week)
This juggling act can put anyone into black-Friday-level overwhelm and “paralysis by analysis”.
Here’s one distinction that can set you free:
Cardio
Weight-lifting
Plyometrics
Static stretching
Yoga
Core exercises
Foam rolling
These are all powerful tools.
The problem: Sometimes people get attached to the entire “toolbox” and believe they have to use them all. But you don’t – in the same way you don’t need to grab every single power tool in your garage, just those required for your home improvement project.
Depending on your “fitness project” you might just need a few.
Other times, people latch onto one popular tool.
When the show The Biggest Loser came out it rocked the fitness industry. Audiences saw contestants doing hours of indoor cycling, walking on the treadmill, swimming laps and whatever else each day. Some of these people lost hundreds of pounds (the relapse rate was a different story though…). This show influenced countless people to believe:
You lose weight by doing hours of cardio
And it can.
But it’s not the only way.
One day a Russian kettlebell instructor and mentor professor of mine put this into perspective (and I paraphrase):
If your entire day can be devoted to health and fitness, then you can spend hours doing light cardio workouts and multiple workouts and lose a ton of weight. But most people don’t have that luxury.
The average person might have 3-5 hours each week (if that). Which means they have to become more strategic and not just use long cardio sessions but high-intensity interval training, resistance training and more time-efficient options.
When you are time-crunched, some tools don’t make sense. Instead pick the ones you need to achieve your goals.
One more thought on this:
What a Balanced Weekly Fitness Plan Actually Includes
Take juggling cardio, strength building, core training and mobility work – since those are major areas of fitness.
A highly effective workout program can check all those boxes. You don’t need a separate workout for each. Or equal time devoted to them. You can tweak your strength training to reap cardio benefits. Tweak your bodyweight training to reap flexibility benefits.
Plus, a solid workout program should reinforce those areas.
Not take away from them.
Unfortunately, the average Joe’s weight-lifting program is robbing them of shoulder mobility. Or their long runs are stealing their hip mobility. Or their stretching routine is weakening their core.
Circling back to the OG question:
If your workout program is too overwhelming, takes too long or you don’t know how to fit it all in, it might be time to simplify.
If your workout program is constantly taking away from other areas of your fitness, it might be time to revamp.
Kelan Ern Elite Fitness Coaching
P.S. If your diet is too overwhelming or it’s taking away from your energy, mental focus and quality of life, it might be time to simplify that as well. For a roadmap on how I do it, check out: Intermittent Fasting Dojo