Stop "Just Exercising" and Start Training for Real Gains: Engineering a Better Body Pt. II

If you want to make REAL improvements to your body composition, you need to stop "working out" and start TRAINING. 
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​A major issue I've recently noticed about people is they often manage to confuse ACTIVITY with ACCOMPLISHMENT.  

This is in regards to all aspects of life you can imagine.  

Especially in the health and fitness realm.  

Maybe it's due to this current social phenomena of "something for nothing", "instant gratification", and "feeling entitled for no reason whatsoever" mentalities that seem to be plaguing my current generation.  

Lately I've observed people thinking they're accomplishing something big, a goal or task, just by simplying DOING.  

This, my friends, should never be the case.

DOING something is always important and a vital step in the right direction for accomplishment. After all, something is always better than nothing.

But it order to accomplish, there has to be direction involved.  
This is where I see SO many people making huge mistakes on the quest to attain better health and better bodies.  

They feel "just exercising" is all that's needed to accomplish their goals.

When in reality, they really need to be TRAINING if they want to improve their progress.

You’re probably thinking, “Wait, what??  Isn’t exercise ‘training’??” 

 Sure, I guess you can consider exercise to be a form of training BUT there is a major difference between an individual who “trains” vs. someone who “exercises”
1. The difference between exercising and training is having a point.  Exercise is done to waste energy , burn calories , or to “blow off steam,” excess mental and physical energy, and tension.  

Training is done in order to improve something : strength, endurance, neuromuscular control, and all that jazz.  Exercise is a singular event with an immediate goal.

2. The success of training can only be judged by changes over time in performance.  Exercise doesn’t have a point beyond the immediate session.

 if you leave the gym a sweaty mess, it was a good exercise session or “workout.”  If you show up every day and breathe hard and get tired and sweaty, you may consider yourself to be successful at exercise (cough CROSSFIT cough).  

By contrast, training can only be judged as a success if it works; that is, if after an appropriate amount of time you can clearly show improved capacity for physical work. 

 You may show up every day and push and pull and grunt and sweat and even limp to your car; but be terribly unsuccessful at training.  

If over time you are not getting any stronger, faster, leaner, more agile, better at your chosen sport, or whatever it is you do.  

My Definitions for Both and My Opinions
Training is simple. 

 Create a goal. 

 Train for the goal. 

Complete the goal. 

 How you go about doing that relies with your program-design.

 Goals can be ANYTHING!  Weight, body fat, bench press max, vertical jump, 40 yard dash, marathon, are all areas where you can set goals.  So, what’s yours??  

As long as you have a goal, start, and finish i would consider that training with purpose.  How you go about training is where  we could argue and debate BUT as long as you have goals with a finish line you are OK in my book.

“Exercise” is showing up to merely sweat, grind, max, and burn.  

These are the fitness nuts, and they really make me wonder sometimes.

They keep chiropractors in good business.    Just stack lots of weight on the leg press and start pumping until it burns, then sprint the stairs, throw a weight vest on and do box jumps until they crumble. 

 No rhythm, no reason.

 As long as it burns like hell they will love it.


I see this EVERYWHERE I look, whether I'm in a gym or out on the street.  People have the desire and motivation to make the changes needed in their life to improve their bodies, but don't have the proper direction to make it happen.


They're DOING just to DO, in hopes that they'll wake up more fit tomorrow.  


Phsyically speaking, it doesn't happen that way.


It's a lot like the whole "clean eating" thing, where people feel as if they "eat clean foods", they'll somehow lose weight and become healthier.


It's never that simple, but the matter of "clean eating" is a topic for another day, but in my experience, its almost always the "exercisers" who are the "clean eaters" and vise versa.  


There's some correlative anecdotal evidence for ya.

But this is all simply my opinion. 


 It reflects in how I train, and how I train my clients. 


 I am not saying my workouts are not challenging, but their purpose is not designed to make you tap out.  

The "Workout of the Day (WOD)" is a prime example of exercising. Random workouts from day to day

Quantify Your Progress
I like numbers.

I work with them essentially all day, everyday.

Numbers tell a story and will never lie to you.  

Exercising has no direct destination, so how do you know when you've ever arrived?

By following a TRAINING PROGRAM (i recommend weight training), that is per-iodized and set up to help you reach milestones every certain amound of days, weeks, workouts, etc, then you can track your progress accordingly and eventually reach a set goal.

Once that initial goal has been reached, all you have to do is re-cycle that program with different training loads and/or volumes or start a different program that prioritizes different movements, rep ranges, etc.

Really, the possibilities are endless when it comes to programming and following PROVEN training programs.  


Training Programs
If you don't know where to start, then you clearly haven't been using the internet long.  

It's as simple as looking up a few related to your desired goals, and PICKING A PROGRAM.

That's it.  Just start doing it.

Most programs are designed in 4-6 week blocks, and if you follow them to the T, you'll make progress.  

Granted, there are a lot of different variables such as diet, training experience, and the loads you're working with, but most designed programs will work on the basis of consistency and progression.

Some may not be as optimal as others, but that's where trial and error comes in.  If for some reason you don't get the desired results from your current program, then you simply pick another one.

At most, you've lost 8 weeks out of your life, which is nothing in the scope of life-long training.  And realisticly, you haven't "lost" anything, as the program you completed still probably yielded decent results.

At worst your strenght and body composition stayed the same!

So stop haphazardly wandering in the gym and performing needless workouts in hopes of achieving an improved body composition.

Find yourself a program that's within your capabilities and STICK TO IT.  

Let me just say there's nothing wrong with "just exercising" and "working out", it's always going to be better than not being active at all, but if you're looking to make REAL gains in strength, lean muscle, fat loss, and overall body composition, then you need to be TRAINING, and not just EXERCISING.  

If you're looking for an actual program to get you to your desired body composition, contact me and I can set you up with both nutritional and weight training programs! I'd be more than happy to set you in the right direction, or design customized programs for whatever your goal.