Working Out vs Training

Do you workout or do you train? Is there a difference? I think there is. I was thinking about this the other day and thought it was time I wrote a blog about it. Well, that and I don’t feel like doing shit in this office as the vent above me pumps out ice cold air in October.

So what do I see as the difference between the two terms? Well for one, lots of people workout. Working out simply means doing something active for the sake of one’s overall health and wellbeing. It could be inside or outside of a gym, varied in nature, and doesn’t typically follow any set schedule. For example, one might say to themselves; “I think I’ll hit the gym tonight to burn off the pizza I had last night”. Working out may be done out of habit, mere enjoyment, or guilt. Some folks may workout on a regular basis while others may do so sporadically. There’s nothing wrong with working out. In fact, just by being an occasional exerciser you are already 10x better off than most sedentary Americans. I consider myself prior to a year ago to be a habitual worker-outer as opposed to being in training. I hit the gym nearly daily and ate what I considered to be a generally healthy diet in order to maintain a slim physique but without much knowledge of the correlation between training hard and appropriate nutrition on a macro level, my physique wasn’t improving in the manner in which I desired. Training is a whole other ballgame.

When one is in training they have a set goal in mind. Anyone could be in training; an athlete (competitive or not), someone trying to change their body composition, lose a lot of fat, come back after an injury, or simply change their lifestyle are all examples of people in training. Someone in training has a set plan to follow. After all, how can you achieve your goals without a clear view of how you will achieve them? For me, I have a set diet plan that I alter depending on my phases of training. My phases as a bikini competitor include shredding (leaning-out and losing body fat for a show), bulking (building muscle in the “off-season”), and then of course the concept of focusing my training on particular areas of my physique that I want to improve upon the most (mostly glutes and shoulders at the moment). Training also means a no excuses approach to achieving your goals. It doesn’t matter if you’re tired or just aren’t in the mood. You get in there and blast out your workout according to plan no matter how you are feeling. 9x out of 10 you will leave feeling a million times better than when you started. After all, the only workout anyone ever regrets is the one that didn’t happen, right?

So, in short, one who trains is also working out. One who is working out is not necessary training. Either way, train insane or remain the same!