How sport and exercise are two very different animals
In this post I want to clarify the difference between sport and exercise, how we often exercise like it is a sport and why you should change your approach if you are exercising for “health”.
Sport is always about an “external” outcome.
It is about reaching a finish line, lifting a certain amount of weight, getting the trophy, the speed, the time, etc.
In sport, you will do anything to achieve these goals, sometimes regardless of what your body is saying to you. You could say you are sacrificing the body for the external outcome.
This is why we get injured playing sport.
Because of the “external” focus, powerlifting is a sport and so is cross-fit.
In these sports there is a defined set, of often arbitrary, rules that should be followed. For example, in powerlifting you must use a 450 mm weight plate and deadlift from the ground. Why not 500 mm or 474 mm? Well, because that is the rule of the sport…
Similarly, when bench pressing, one rep is classified as when the bar touches the chest to a locked-out arm position.
Consider the difference of how a “bar to chest” bench press would feel between a person with a massive rib cage and short arms compared to someone with a small rib cage and long arms?
It is unfair to use to the same rep definition for those two people because their respective range of motion and muscle recruitment will be totally different!
Just like with any sport, you have to be made for it to excel at it.
Therefore, when choosing a sport, you should be very aware of how well suited you are for that sport, especially if you are only doing it in the name of “health”.
Once you are armed with this information, you can make informed decisions based on how much you love the sport versus the potential consequences of playing the sport. Maybe you can avoid these consequences with appropriate preparation?
Unfortunately, we often exercise in the gym like it’s a sport. Virtually everyone performs a bench press to their chest (me included when I was younger!) because somehow that is what is considered “correct form” and “full range of motion”.
But really you have to think why you are doing the bench press or any particular exercise. For the sport or for your health? Ultimately it is completely dependent on your goal(s)!!
If you are doing bench press for health (and appearance), then you don’t need to bring the bar to your chest for maximal pec muscle recruitment and honestly there are much better exercises to develop the chest in a safer way.
If you are exercising to compete with others in the gym (maybe subconsciously) or trying to lift as much weight as possible then that is really just another type of sport because your focus is “external” and competitive.
If you are following a certain, pre-determined, rep range that is also just another version of a sport. It is mindless, especially if you are trying to reach that “magic number” at all costs.
It may make you look good on the outside, but it won’t on the inside and you certainly won’t feel good in a few years’ time.
There are plenty of other ways to make you “look good” without sacrificing the body.
Think of the analogy of a skilled carpenter who hammers nails into a wall (man on right in picture below) ...he can do it with two hits and the nail will be perfectly flush to the wall and no surrounding damage. It is fast, efficient and results in minimal damage.
Unskilled versus skilled carpenter
Compare that to an unskilled person who is trying to hammer a nail into a wall…the nail will be bent, it will take more hits to get it somewhat flush to the wall, there will be surrounding damage and the nail will probably be looser and not last as long in the wall. At some point you will have to use a new hole or use filler to keep the nail tight. I think you get the point.
This is the difference between training mindfully and training mindlessly. It is the difference between sport and exercise from a health perspective.
The workouts are more efficient and less costly when mindful whereas a mindless workout is the opposite. From the outside, the end result maybe the same (although not in this analogy) but that is far from the case on the inside.
In my view when you are exercising, you are trying to optimize and tune your body, just like when you take your car in for a service. This requires knowledge, mindfulness and lots of control. You need to focus internally. You need to understand your limits and you need to understand and teach your brain how to recruit muscles.
By doing this you are optimizing your mind and body so that you can play better at the sports you love doing.
BUT if you are just starting out, I get it, this is difficult! You are struggling to gain motivation just to go to the gym let alone train mindfully.
That is why it is always better to seek professional advice and help when starting something new. It may cost you initially but in the long run it will be way more efficient and actually less costly both physically and financially.
With that said, remember to BE your best you and train smart!
John (The Body Engineer)