Are You Training or Exercising?

I’m a massive fan of reality and truth when it comes to my industry. Mark Rippetoe is an American strength training coach and author who I’m learning heaps from at the moment. He is also known for his particularly brash teaching style and humour, prompting several online compilations of his attributed quotations.

 I’m taking a subjective approach to this discussion as I wouldn't do this article any justice by standing on one side of the fence. I create and write programs for many needs including; athletic, aesthetic, building behavioural patterns by providing programs that build good health efficacy and for those who are limited for time or equipment. As for what information is available to you, it is up to you to create order within this chaos of the fitness world and find the patterns that will help you to understand what is true, what could be true, and what is outright false. As an Exercise Physiologist and highly trained to understand hundreds of exercises and where they are applicable to a client or athlete and how to program, I am constantly in conflict with the ever growing exercise world and its authorities (experienced and inexperienced) who are each offering their opinions on the best methods for the holy grail body and super human strength. One thing you need to know from my perspective is what is training and what is exercising.

Firstly ask yourself this question. “Do you train for performance or looks”?

Answer this question as distinctively as you can. Once you have answered this question, you can then determine whether you are actually training or exercising.

Understanding the difference between training and exercising is fundamental to achieving the desired objective and benefiting either as an athlete or everyday punter wanting to look good naked.

What’s the difference between a productive and succinct trainer and a babysitter (overpaid ineffective beauty therapist PT)? What’s the difference between someone who gets big, strong, and lean or a combination of all these and the gym rat that is skinny, weak, wears training gloves while he/she poses in the mirror week in week out? The latter is punching the ticket each time they come in the gym door, they are getting all sweaty for others to see and they talk between sets with their chests sticking out. What's the difference between a successful strength athlete and a frustrated PT client, group fitness participant or team sport weekend warrior?

In each of the above examples, the former structure their training around primary exercises and program them for long-term progress, using assistance exercises only when progress has slowed on the primary exercises. Their coach knows this and so do they. The latter think that variety is key to overcome the boredom associated with their ‘exercising’ and that routine is the enemy. They think that being sweaty, feeling the burn, soreness and pump are the objectives of an effective workout, not realising that these physical responses are side-effects of what happened during their workout.

Training is organized activity aimed at improving performance. If the objective is improved performance, then the training needs to be geared directly towards the tip of this mountain. Training is the process of direct physical stress which results in adaptation. Effective training includes repetition to master the movement, which improves anatomical adaptation and muscular endurance. Once the technique has been mastered focus must be shifted on building strength. This is achieved not by doing more (improves muscular endurance) but by increasing the load (stimulus) which causes stress that causes an adaptation (if you can recover from it), which builds strength.

Primary Exercise - Deadlifts works full kinetic chain

Assistance Exercise - Pull-Up works Posterior chain

Exercising ignores this by doing exactly what you did last time (exercise type without changing repetitions) or by doing any other randomised program dictated by either you, the group fitness program you chose or the trainer you have chosen. I’m not bagging these sports or your trainer but asking how you track your progress. How can you know that you are benefiting from your training if you are not tracking your numbers? If you’re not Training, then you are almost entirely just Exercising. If you are feeling punished every day, it’s not because you are getting stronger, it’s because you aren't adapting to the work, so your body will obviously sweat…but does it grow? Either way, they're really about what happens today.

Take Home Message (THM)

Strength is the most basic of athletic adaptations and how your perception of these elite athletic bodies appears will help you conclude what your needs are. Athletes who need to increase strength are wasting their potential for strength improvement by performing anything but training. Novice weekend warriors and those in the looks department can vary exercises constantly and mix it up to keep their bodies guessing, but bear in mind that you won’t get much stronger but you will shift receive the benefits from the exercises done and get some conditioning effects.

If you want to perform, then take the training door. If you want to look good, take the exercise door.

Tips for your door

Performance

- Choose a qualified trainer

 E.g. If the goal is performance, then chose a Certified Strength coach with runs on the board.

- Stick to primary exercises such as; Squats, presses, and deadlifts

- Keep a log for progress

- Only use assistance exercises to improve primary strength e.g. perform triceps push downs to increase triceps strength to improve bench press.

Looks

- Master movement before increasing volume (repetitions)

- Regain power with your trainer by asking in advance what your exercise session will involve.

- Target your weaknesses ahead of your strengths. For most guys its legs.

- Chose a ‘goal’ within your exercise session or at the completion of the program. It may be related to repetitions or distance.