Melissa Stockwell knows a thing or two about the value of being well-rounded as an athlete.
A three-time Paralympian, Stockwell competed as a swimmer in the 2008 Beijing Games before discovering the triathlon. “I fell in love with it from the start—the challenge of all three sports,” she says. She won bronze in the paratriathlon in the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Games, and will vie for another medal on September 1 in Paris.
“When I was a swimmer, we would swim 12 to 15 hours a week, and that’s a massive toll on the shoulders,” she says. “Now, it’s not just my shoulders taking the toll. I’m spreading the love to all parts of the body, which can help with injury, help with fatigue, and help your body be strong as a whole.”
In a fitness culture where bold, clickbaity statements loom large—we’ve all seen the headlines that a certain type of exercise will somehow fix all your problems—there’s something refreshing about events like the triathlon, where athletes embody the very definition of well-roundedness as they swim, bike, and run.
And it’s not just elite athletes who can benefit from being a jack-of-many-trades. We spoke to Stockwell and two of her paratriathlon teammates about the importance of being well-rounded, and what everyday fitness enthusiasts can learn from how they train.
1. Fitness should be fun
Rachel Watts, who will make her Paralympic debut in Paris, says the varied training of the triathlon helps her tap into a childlike sense of play.
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“I feel like I’m still a kid when I do triathlon,” she says. “Our earliest playful movement was running around in the yard, or hopping on a bike, or swimming lessons. So I get to, as an adult, play in the ways that brought me the most joy as a kid.”
You don’t need to be swimming, biking, and running to channel your inner kid: Maybe you join an adult recreational team of the sport you played in middle school to balance out your typical gym routine, or take a class in a new-to-you form of movement like ballet, surfing, or martial arts.
“Incorporate strength training, take a yoga class, take a Pilates class. There’s no harm in trying. Just keep trying to keep your whole body pieced together and healthy, and keep things interesting at the same time.” —Melissa Stockwell, paratriathlete
2. More variation means fewer overuse injuries
Like Stockwell, Watts specialized in one sport—running—before switching to the triathlon. “When I was a runner, I would have overuse injuries a lot,” she says. Now, triathlon training has helped her find balance in her body and avoid the injuries that often come with repeating the same movements over and over again.
Emma Meyers, also a Paralympic debutante, says another perk of the triathlon—and of being a well-rounded athlete in general—is that when you do get injured, it doesn’t necessarily have to stop you from training altogether. (For instance, if you develop plantar fasciitis from running, you can still hit the pool for some laps.)
Even though the idea of doing three distinct sports can feel intimidating, Watts says she actually thinks this variation makes the triathlon more accessible than other sports due to the lower injury risk. “Anybody can do it,” she says. “It’s easier to do three sports than one sport because it allows [the activities] to stay novel and not get monotonous—and you don’t get those overuse injuries.”
3. Recovery days are key
A well-rounded fitness routine isn’t just about balancing strength and cardio, or dabbling in multiple sports. It’s also about varying intensity, Stockwell says.
For her, that looks like a mix of speed-based work (like sprints and intervals), tempo work (medium-intensity efforts for longer periods to build endurance), and recovery days. “If I were to go out every day and try to run the fastest 5K I can, that’s probably not going to turn out very well,” she says.
Those recovery days, which often look like running or biking at an easy pace, are especially crucial, she says. “That’s what sets me up for success for the rest of the week.”
Watts agrees that rest and recovery—for both the body and the mind—are integral parts of a well-rounded athlete’s routine. “I have leg compression boots that I like to use every night, I do cupping, I take ice baths, I do scraping,” she says. “And then just breathwork—taking a pause to help me stop focusing on the next thing I should do and instead just let my body rest and be.”
4. Balance in fitness equals balance in life
Don’t be mistaken: Finding balance between the triathlon’s three disciplines comes with major challenges, Watts says. “It’s frustrating because I might want to spend five days just dialing in on my running form, but there’s not an opportunity to do that, because then I’m letting my swimming and cycling go on the back burner,” she says. “If I focus too hard on one aspect, what am I letting go with another? It’s about not overdoing it in any of them so I can be successful in all three.”
If that sounds like a metaphor for life, that’s because it is, Watts says. The constant negotiations of triathlon training have taught her life lessons, like being flexible enough to adjust on the fly and accepting that even if you can’t do it all, you can still do something.
The good news for those of us who aren’t elite triathletes: There’s no need to aim for perfection in any one discipline. Instead, keep an open mind and don’t be afraid to be a beginner at something, Stockwell suggests.
“Incorporate strength training, take a yoga class, take a Pilates class,” she says. “There’s no harm in trying. Just keep trying to keep your whole body pieced together and healthy, and keep things interesting at the same time.”
