Are you going to the gym to train or to exercise? Are they the same thing? Exercising can be defined as any activity that requires effort carried out to improve health and fitness. Perhaps you go on a morning run, or play tennis, or do your “routine” in the gym. Often, many come to the gym every day and walk on the treadmill for 20 minutes, move to the elliptical to another 20 minutes, go into the weight room and pick up some weights, do 15 reps of certain exercises, get a sweat going, perhaps do a circuit, finish with some ab work and stretch out. All are really great forms of exercise to be doing consistently. If you’re doing one, some, or all of these, you’re on the right track!

Training is different. It is often geared for competition to reach a particular goal for a sport or hobby. Training uses programs to reach these goals. There are progressions, overloading muscles, planned rest days, one rep max testing, and many other ways to reach a specific goal. For example, if a person wanted to increase her vertical jump for volleyball, she might start by measuring her current jump height. The program for her might look like: Box jumps, followed by power cleans, squats, and some hamstring curls. Each of these would be tailored with weight, repetitions, speed, etc. Then perhaps in a few weeks, she’d retest her jump height again.

Or, perhaps someone would like to lose 10 lbs.  One could easily do cardio every day, do a workout routine, and try to eat healthily. Will this work? Possibly. But a person would have a better chance of reaching a goal with a training plan. The assistance of a registered dietitian to help measure your carbs, proteins, and fats is a fantastic tool. A personal trainer could create a plan for helping make a person become stronger, leaner, and more flexible.

Both approaches to fitness are great. The main difference is “exercise” is a little broader of a goal and “training” is specific to a person’s goals.

If you have a specific goal in mind or are stuck in an "exercise rut" and need some guidance to get you to that next level reach out to our Personal Training department today and get connected with the right trainer to help you customize a plan that will help you succeed!