"Don't worry coach, I'm working out with a trainer three days a week."

To this day the conversation sticks with me.

At the time I was the strength coach for the St Bernard's football team, and one of our players was explaining why we hadn't seen him working out with us.

The problem wasn't that he was being dishonest, or lazy, it was that he hadn't improved athletically at all since the previous year.

We were depending on him to take a bigger role in our defense, but he wasn't anywhere near ready to succeed physically.

No doubt he was putting in the time, it just wasn't making an impact.

Much like some schoolteachers hand out worksheets to keep a class busy without really learning, many fitness programs provide the illusion of development without actually making you any better.

In his book "Practical Programming for Strength Training", coach and author Mark Rippetoe opens by contrasting the difference between exercise and training.

Rippetoe defines exercise as the type of activity that keeps you healthy. They could be light or intense activities, but they do not have any structure or overarching purpose to them.

Training, he argues, is what athletes do to achieve a specific purpose.

Specific drills are chosen to achieve it.

Progressions are constant.

It is the exercise mindset, more prevalent than ever these days, that athletes must watch out for.

Because you can fool yourself into thinking that since you're going to the gym with your friends, or doing team lifts, or working out in your basement, that all your hard work is going to pay off.

It will only help if you're doing the right things, over a sustained period of time, while making endless small improvements.

Training is judged by how well you perform in competition against others.

Training is about the long-term. No one who understands it would honestly believe you can get significantly better in a 4 or 6 week period.

Exercise is usually judged by how much you sweat, or how much of a pump you feel at the end of that day's session.

"That was a great workout!" is the battle cry of an exerciser.

They are different mindsets, even though they both involve working out.

This is why many college athletes make huge jumps in strength and power during their freshman year, as it's often the first time they ever actually trained over a long period of time.

As John Wooden once said,

"Don't mistake activity for achievement."

Athletes have a limited amount of time to maximize their talents.

The kid with potential will eventually get surpassed by someone else if they waste time on ineffective training.

If you're going to make a commitment to your physical development, make sure you are using your time wisely.

Truly spend your time training, not just exercising.