2. Training is about the future. Exercising is about today.
We all know regular exercise and daily physical activity can improve and maintain good health. But exercising randomly doesn't win you championships, help you break personal records, transform your body, or actually make significant health and functional changes that will improve your long term health and quality of life.
Most exercise based protocols consist of constant movement and excess sweating. You may feel that you are accomplishing a goal and that you are extremely productive, but one must question the sustainability and longevity of approaching fitness in this way. If your workouts consist of ONLY endurance work on a bike or machine while going nowhere, and/or frantic, time-based bouts of combined exercises, such as circuits of running in place, erg rowing, pushups, squats, burpees, swings, light high-rep resistance work, or any other of the same old monkey business you see in any fitness class or informercial workout; You are indeed exercising -Not training. Yes, you are burning calories, but will you burn more calories day in and day out, even while at rest, long term? Yes, your heart and muscles can do more work after a while, but are you reaching your full potential by randomly shuffling around the same activities and protocols?
There is an inverse relationship between Quality and Quantity. More people, more reps, more sets, more exercising, more moving, etc.; by definition leads to less individual attention, lesser ability to teach and learn properly, less focus, little to non existent quality programing, less recovery, and so on. This approach is successful from a business perspective as it draws herds and motivates them to move in community, with less thinking and affordable prices. But I'll repeat again, these focus on exercises pulled out of a hat to "lose calories", break a sweat, or make you tired, you will NOT result in any significant long-term progress. You will not really be strong and keep getting stronger. You won't be able to do a triathlon. You won't correct your weaknesses and may create further long term damage. You won't carve an admirable balanced physique, and most likely you won't be able to keep it up much longer without abuse injuries, plateauing, getting bored, or feeling the need to find the next and newest trend.
Yes something is better than nothing and classes formed with some minor progressions and changes are better than just something, but there's already inhibited limitations in this format and not enough good coaching to overcome it long term. Though fun and enjoyable as they may be, these Churn and burn focus only result in SHORT-TERM achievement. They solve the problems of today. You may lose some calories so you can keep eating and drinking the same and not gain any more weight, or they can possibly make you "skinny" if you starve yourself while you feel "the burn" everyday. Either way, this warped perception of fitness that prevails rampantly now days is the total opposite of what having a fit life style means.
