Recently I was indirectly criticised for my dedication to exercising by someone because I had made the offhand remark that I was a bit tired and kind of sore. The overall tone of the conversation was why do you do that to yourself? You have three kids, work full-time and a spouse who works long hours – why do you squeeze exercise into every free moment you have?
Ahhhhhh – very good point.
Semantics. My friend calls it exercising, while I call it training. Then I started thinking about it. My friend, as a casual observer, hit the nail on the head. Lately I’ve been exercising a lot. Not training. I’ve been wearing myself out, spinning my wheels in one place and not getting anywhere because I haven’t been focusing or laying out my exercise plan into a manner that will get me closer to my goals. If I was training and following a good plan, I wouldn’t be so worn out and run down – I’d instead be progressing in a steady manner towards a goal.
Lately I’ve been maintaining my health with exercise, but not improving my overall sport performance. Even though I’ve been laying out a weekly plan of exercise, it hasn’t been fit into a longer term plan where each workout plays a role in helping me reach a larger goal. Because I haven’t been looking at the “BIG picture”, I’ve been working too hard.
This is the same “AHA!” moment that I had at my most recent 10k race. When I lined up to race, I was registered for the wrong corral – I had a red bib which placed me amongst the super speedy folk aiming to do a sub 48min 10k. WOW! As I looked around me I realised that I kind of stuck out like a sore thumb amongst these super speedy gazelles that run a 10k faster than I can run an 8k. As I looked around at their lean, muscular, speedy bodies I realised WHY they’re faster than me:
They TRAIN!
The gazelles around me don’t simply go for a run (or lots of runs like me) – they TRAIN. Every run has a purpose. They FUEL their bodies for optimal performance and they allow themselves ample RECOVERY time with active rest. They PROGRESS towards a goal and they have FOCUS>
I used to think the difference between exercise and training was easy:
- EXERCISE: Chasing my kids around the park.
- TRAINING: Running loops around the park on my lunch time as fast as I can.
But I’ve now come to the conclusion that #2, without being a part of an overall plan, and working towards a specific goal is also just exercise. I don’t know why this had never occurred to me before.
ex·er·cise/eks?rs?z/
Noun: Activity requiring physical effort, carried out esp. to sustain or improve health and fitness.
train·ing/tr?niNG/
Noun:
1. The action of teaching a person or animal a particular skill or type of behavior.
2. The action of undertaking a course of exercise and diet in preparation for a sporting event.
(Source: Google)
Last night I exercised – I went and swam laps as hard as I could for 20 min in our community pool:
Do you believe there’s a difference between EXERCISING and TRAINING? How do you define that difference?
Great point, Janice! This gives me motivation to focus on my goals & train with a purpose (after a week of recovery!).
Heather´s last [type] ..Divas Half Marathon Race Recap
Of course! Enjoy your very well earned recovery week!! Congrats!
Great post! Great post! I was swimming around the difference between exercising and training after my last two half marathons, but never came to a concrete conclusion – but you nailed it! Thank you!
Thanks *blush* now I have to figure out if I want to TRAIN for the triathlon or EXERCISE my way there.
YOU HAD ME PONDERING THIS ALL YESTERDAY
which I adored
and for me? there is absolutely NO difference.
Miz´s last [type] ..OM making changes.
Good point! We’re training for life & health.
I consider most “exercise” as training, because in the end, it’s keeping my fitness at a level necessary for me to be able to randomly sign up for races or join other people’s hikes or whatnot without having to worry that I’m not conditioned enough.
Julie (A Case of the Runs)´s last [type] ..Sharkies Prize Pack (giveaway)
What a great thing to think about! I never would have thought about the difference between exercise and training. I don’t train for anything other than feeling better. So if I’m overdoing it, I’m going against the main reason I exercise in the first place!
Amber K´s last [type] ..Friday Musings
you should be proud of yourself for doing as good as you’ve accomplished, I know your a role model to me
lorrie´s last [type] ..Day 6-Dog’s Life
how exactly do you go about setting up these master plans for training? or even setting up a weekly schedule for exercise? the whole thing boggles my mind, and i usually just let my personal trainer tell me what we’re doing that day, but i’ve never really taken it into my own control or made the effort set up a schedule for myself. help!