Training vs exercise, what’s the difference?
First of all, there is no doubt that exercise is amazing for our physical and mental health! The key distinction that we see is the structure, consistency, and intent of training as opposed to exercise. In order to accomplish a specific result, you need to have a specific structure and a specific plan in place. No one increased their bench press by walking their dog, right?
Let’s use resistance training as an example. Each session will be created according to the athlete’s goals, strengths, weaknesses, physiology and time constraints, just to name a few! This will subsequently provide an insight into the distribution of volume, frequency, intensity, and exercise selection. On the other hand, exercise may be less scheduled, with less thought process going into the aforementioned principles. It’s completely normal to exercise for enjoyment or health without worrying about the finer (and probably unnecessary) details.
The second key point is consistency and adherence. Training numbers don’t care how you’re feeling, or whether you’ve had a tough day. Not only that, but you’ll likely have to get uncomfortable in order to hit your numbers, whether it be a time trial or AMRAP testing. All the better though if you enjoy pushing yourself, it’s undoubtedly rewarding! That’s one of the main reasons why we track progress using spreadsheets or a logbook. If we only relied on our internal cues and sense of ‘difficulty’, many of us may not have achieved the results we were after. As the saying goes, “If you can’t measure it, you can’t improve it”.
What’s the message here though? At the end of the day, there’s no right and wrong. If you are pursuing a specific goal and you’re not experiencing the results you want, have a look at what you’re doing. Are you training with specificity and intent, or exercising how and when you feel like it? Often, a structured program with defined goals can make all the difference to achieving the results you want. However, staying regularly active and moving your body in ways that make you feel good will always be paramount.