Strength Training Vs Conditioning

There are plenty of different ways and styles of training. Do you focus more on strength training or conditioning? Knowing the differences between these two types of training can help you to make sure that your efforts are not in vain. At Junkyard Training, we are all about training smarter. That is why today we want to clear up a few things when it comes to strength training and body conditioning.

What is Conditioning?

Put simply, conditioning is training with the goal of improving your cardiovascular performance. Oftentimes, conditioning will look a lot like strength training. It is no wonder then that the two are often confused. The difference, however, is that when doing conditioning exercises, you are using less weight and doing far more reps for each exercise. Another difference is the fact that while conditioning, your muscles do not remain under constant tension for long periods of time as with strength training. Conditioning will have you jumping back and forth between a few exercises, allowing for each muscle group to get a break.

Body conditioning is an excellent tool in aiding heart health. The back and forth between exercises combined with high rep counts give your heart a good pump. And we all know that exercising your heart has many long-term benefits, including, lowered blood pressure, cholesterol, risk of heart attack and stroke. This type of training is versatile and can be performed virtually anywhere.

What is Strength Training?

Strength training, on the other hand, is training with the goal of increasing your physical strength. When completing strength training exercises, you are causing stress to your muscles by maxing out the amount of weight you can feasibly handle when performing a movement. This is essentially tearing apart your muscles and encouraging your body to build more to carry said weight. And you repeat the process with increasingly more weight each session. Progressive overload is the name of the game. In addition to increased weights, your rep count when performing movements is significantly lower than with conditioning. Generally, each exercise is completed in sets of 2-5 with 1-6 reps. If you are pushing yourself, this is pretty much all you will be able to accomplish with proper form.

Strength training is amazing at lowering body fat percentage, increasing muscle mass and bone density, as well as lowering cholesterol. Plus, the feeling of being strong is just unmatched.

Both types of training are wonderful and difficult in their own ways. But do you know what is better? When you combine the two. By using both types of training to your advantage you are surely going to reach your goals and see improvements in your mental and physical health. If you are looking for a place where you can reach your fullest potential, look no further than Junkyard Training. Not only do we have a full gym to use at your convenience, but we enlist expert trainers and coaches, as well as recovery aids to help you reach your goals.

Posted By Junkyard Training on 9-17-2020