Happy September Warriors! School’s back and since the kiddos are getting their learning on, I thought we should too. Those who have been around this little corner of the web awhile know how much I love proper definitions. Today I want to address the similarities and differences between exercise and training.
I talk a lot around here about goals and finding why. The main reason I do that is consistency. If you want to run a marathon or hit a bench press PR, you are going to need to be very consistent with workouts. You’ll also need to do some things that will be uncomfortable and/or that you just straight up dislike. Having a clearly defined goal and unshakeable why will help you get through the tough times.
The second reason I talk about goals and whys so much is because we have a tendency to confuse exercise and training. Because from the outside looking in, they can look so similar. In truth, they are very different.
Part of the confusion stems from the fact that most research in exercise looks at the top 20% of performers. If, for instance, you want to find out if a carbohydrate-protein beverage makes a difference in the recovery and performance of endurance competitors, you have to find individuals who have undergone a lot of endurance training. That ensures that the variance in the research is actually coming from the beverage you are trying to test and not differences in training or ability of the participants. (No hate on this study, by the way. This is just good study design and it turned things upside down such that I got to be involved in the subsequent trials.)
I tell you this so that you understand that most of what we summarize in terms of exercise recommendations for general populations and goals comes from research done on highly trained individuals. In the study from above, the participants were 15 male (another issue, but a topic for another time) cyclists with a mean VO2max of 52.6 mL x kg x min. More science babble. VO2max is a measure of aerobic capacity and suffice it to say that the bigger the number, the more impressive. The average VO2max for men is about 35-37.
All this to say, trainers and coaches are taking scientific data collected on highly trained individuals and trying to adapt it to, well, you. And here is how training and exercise are different and why it is important. Exercise is movement with a purpose. Training is not only moving with a purpose but placing a unique purpose on each individual workout AND carefully considering rest, hydration, and fuel to attain a very specific goal.
From the outside, it may seem as though a person is jogging. If their goal is weight loss, the purpose of jogging is to burn calories (especially from stored body fat) to create a deficit for the day. Jogging in this instance is exercise because this caloric deficit can also be created via other means (i.e. swimming or biking). If this individual’s goal is to run a half marathon, jogging is a tool for training. Tempo runs train the energy conversion systems in the body for efficiency. Long runs train the heart, lungs, and musculature for endurance. Light jogs are a recovery tool. Both the running itself and the exact type of running is specific to not only the larger goal but the needs of the athlete.
Someone strength training looks a certain way to the outside. For a weight loss goal, the purpose of strength training becomes building muscle to increase baseline metabolic activity so the body can burn more calories each day. This is exercise because the style of strength training can take on any form (i.e. actual weights, resistance bands, etc.). For the individual running the half marathon, the purpose of strength training is to build muscle during a certain phase of training and to prevent injury when their mileage increases during a different training phase. Strength training here is actual training because the intensity and volume of work also needs to be balanced with running volumes.
The difference between exercise and training comes from the bigger picture. When your goal/purpose is overarching (weight loss in my examples), each session just needs to meet a singular purpose. As long as you are meeting that, nothing else needs to be optimized. This is exercise. There is freedom of choice and flexibility to adapt as necessary.
When your goal/purpose is very specific (running a half marathon), each session needs to meet several purposes. Jogging is more than how far you went. The intensity, duration, and other factors affect which systems were taxed and in what specific way. Strength training looks different in month one than it does in month six because as race day comes closer, the body needs different things from it. This is training. There is a purpose not only to the general plan but to every single workout. And nutrition and rest need to be optimized as well, to get the most out of workouts.
As I mentioned when I wrote about Fasted Cardio, most of us are not training for something specific. There is no need to optimize everything. Find what works for you and your circumstances. And then do those things. Consistently. Until next time, be well friends!
