Day 57 - Fitness vs. Training

Some of you may be wondering why I have such a silly title to this blog. Aren't these two the same thing? No, they are not, and I plan on explaining why I feel this way.

Anybody who exercises or stays fit with physical activity is doing 'fitness'. Fitness is usually (not always) geared towards feeling better, looking better, being healthier, etc. It is the main category of physical fitness that most people fall into.

The one downside to fitness - in my opinion - is that it is less goal-oriented and focused as 'Training' is. Allow me to explain.

I use physical fitness all the time! I enjoy staying active, lifting weights, doing cardiovascular exercise, going for walks, going for hikes, playing with my nieces, etc. The times of the year when I am focusing more on 'Fitness' and less on 'Training' is fine, but I am often not as concerned with any specific goal.

Sure, as I said before, some people may use physical activity to try and change the way they look or how they feel and just overall get 'in shape', but it is the times of year when I start to 'Train' when I feel fully alive.

Training is used for those times when you are specifically asking of extreme demands out of your body to improve for a certain competition or sport. Athletes know all about training. It is used to improve skills, or performance so that you can become better at something.

So how is this different than overall fitness? Growing up, I was always active with sports such as competitive hockey and soccer. Training wasn't necessarily something I thought about as much as I do now, simply because I participated in events for fun, but looking back on how I acted/felt, I can see now how truly different things were.

I find my entire mood changes when I am training for performance. I begin to get that 'hunger' or 'drive' during my training sessions to push myself that much further. To push my body to the brink of what it is capable of doing, and then wake up the very next morning and be ready to do it all over again with the same desire.

You do not necessarily have to be training for a sport or competition to get these feelings, however, but I find it certainly helps. Knowing that every action or exercise I do is moving me closer to my goal is an invigorating experience.

Over the past several weeks of my Warrior Training, I have been using physical fitness to get in overall shape. Sure, I was training towards a specific goal, but I was further from my goal dates, so my training was more about getting in overall great shape to lead up to my performance training.

That takes me to today. Day 1 of my Performance Phase was this morning and man oh man did I feel alive! I know that I have less than 5 weeks now until my first competition that I am training for (Warrior Dash) so I could definitely feel my attitude and energy levels pick up a notch or two!

As I said, you do not necessarily need a specific event or competition to train for. But I highly recommend spending a few weeks, maybe a couple times a year, focusing on one specific goal, and attacking that son of a bitch. It is a truly amazing feeling!

Quote of the day:

"A successful man continues to look for work after he has found a job."
~ Author Unknown

Day 32 - Train with a Purpose!

 

If you are a soccer player, you would train your legs and core and heart to be a better runner and kick the ball harder. If you are a gymnast, you train your flexibility and core strength, etc.

For average people who do not have a specific sport to train for, you should be training your body to become more functionally fit for everyday life. This includes core strength to improve posture, leg strength to climb stairs into your old age, arm strength to lift your kids and play with them. Don't just do something just because it looks cool or is the new fad, do it because it is going to improve your overall health.

For example, if you are a dad who coaches your sons soccer team and wishes to be more fit and active, going to the gym three days a week and spending 45mins of every hour doing ridiculous weight on the bench press and cranking out bicep curls may make your muscles grow a bit, but you are still going to be huffing and puffing trying to keep up with the kids!

Take that for example right there, kids do a little bit of everything, they run, they jump, they swing from trees, adults should take a hint...

Quote of the day:

"Success doesn’t come to you… you go to it."

-Marva Collins

Training Application

There are many different reasons why people exercise. Generally, for majority of the population, it is to look good, feel good, and lose a few pounds. This has to be the single most popular application in today's society. This is a point generally reached by many who have been sitting on their rumps for too long, shoving crappy foods down their throats...but that is for another discussion.

Majority of the time, people end up failing on their "look good, lose some weight" goal, and quit. But sometimes, you get a small group of people that actually do well. They start to get it. They change their diet, they include rigorous exercise into their regular schedules, and they become, what they lazy ones call, a "fitness nut".

Great! So they lose a few pounds, they feel good about themselves. They might even pack on a bit of muscle tissue and feel strong and in control. But what next? This is where some people begin to fall off the wagon, because they don't really know what to do next. That is why we are here to discuss application. What I mean by this is to now take that body you have overhauled, and apply it.

Sure, you could go on exercising every day, and be perfectly happy with that. However, for most people, they tend to get bored. I highly recommend you now apply yourself to something athletic. Let us remember that throughout human history, sports and games have been a pretty big part of our lives. Before there were big box gyms, weight loss pills, tv, and internet, there were games and sports to participate in that kept people lean and fit.

Again, it is perfectly acceptable to maintain a healthy lifestyle with something that interests you, but if you are one of the lucky few that enjoys 'playing', and want to get better at that thing - whatever it is - then you then need to think about training specificity so that you can properly apply yourself. This tends to be a natural progression for many, as they become fit and now feel confident in seeing what they can do!

Whether you want to sign up for a marathon, a mud run, or be a 'weekend warrior' by competing in basketball, soccer, hockey, or any other sport that you are a fan of, there comes a time when you must apply yourself to that sport and specify your training accordingly.

I have to say, this what separates a general personal trainer from a specific strength and conditioning coach. A personal trainer can be good at motivating people to get in shape, but only a sports trainer or properly certified strength coach can help you target your program to your specific needs.

The inspiration behind this blog comes from a few different videos that I saw on youtube this past week. First off, we have a man by the name of Stefan Holm doing some hurdle training. Take a minute and observe the size of this guy's legs. Do they appear big and strong to you? Not really! However, this man has trained his muscles to be as explosive and powerful as possible, allowing him to jump as high as he does here. He looks like a gazelle!

Sure, with the previous example, as well as the next one, there may be some preexisting talent here, so I am by no means saying that any 'average Joe' can go out and dunk a basketball. The point here is that it is not always the biggest muscles that make the best athlete, it is how you apply your muscles to a specific goal or task.

Next we have Jeremy Evans, who just recently won the 2012 NBA Slam Dunk Competition. Again, this guy is not built like a bodybuilder. Sure, his legs are muscular, but it is his application of these muscles that won him the competition. Below is a video of him training as well as his highlights.

Sources:
Photo: http://www.dieselcrew.com/jump-training-for-explosive-power