Training Versus Working Out

The “Slow Cooker” Approach to Long-Term Performance

One of the biggest misconceptions in strength and conditioning is that a training session only “counts” if you leave feeling completely exhausted.

Many athletes and parent's associate:

• Heavy sweating

• Extreme soreness

• High heart rates

• Total exhaustion

with a productive workout.

But fatigue alone is not the goal.

There’s a major difference between working out and training.

Working Out

Working out is often based around:

• Chasing soreness

• Chasing sweat

• Emptying the tank

• Random workouts

• Doing more just to feel tired

• 
  

There may be effort involved, but not always intention.

This is where athletes often:

• Rush through reps

• Force heavier weight before movement quality is ready

• Ignore recovery

• Turn every session into conditioning

And eventually… they “burn the steak.”

Training

Training is intentional.

Every:

• rep,

• set,

• rest period,

• progression,

• and exercise choice

has a purpose behind it.

The goal isn’t simply to feel tired.

The goal is adaptation and performance improvement.

Training asks:

• What quality are we trying to improve?

• What does the athlete need today?

• What dose creates progress without unnecessary fatigue?

Don’t Burn the Steak

Let’s use the analogy:

“Don’t burn the steak.”

Too many athletes try to cook everything on maximum heat.

Every session becomes:

• high intensity,

• high fatigue,

• high exhaustion.

But long-term development doesn’t happen by constantly maxing out effort.

It happens through consistency, quality, and patience.

Like a slow cooker process.

You allow development to build over time instead of forcing it all at once.

I can’t take credit for the “don’t burn the steak” analogy, credit to whoever originally created it. It’s just a concept I believe in when it comes to training.

Why Feeling “Gassed” Isn’t Always the Goal

This is especially important for:

• speed work,

• power training,

• and change of direction sessions.

If an athlete finishes true speed training completely exhausted, there’s a good chance:

1. Their aerobic system needs improvement, and or

2. The session stopped being true speed work due to poor work-to-rest ratios.

High-quality speed training requires:

• full effort,

• high movement quality,

• And intentional recovery.

You cannot consistently train explosiveness while heavily fatigued.

Smart Training Requires Intention

Not every session should leave an athlete crushed.

Some of the best sessions may actually feel:

• controlled,

• smooth

• technical,

• and repeatable.

That doesn’t make them “easy.”

It makes them intentional!

Final Thoughts

Working out gets you tired.

Smart training gets you better.

However, that doesn’t mean there’s never a time and place for workouts that leave you feeling crushed, especially if you genuinely enjoy training like that. Those types of sessions can build mental resilience, challenge athletes in different ways, and sometimes push people outside of their comfort zone in a positive way.

But doing that every single day can eventually lead to:

• burnout,

• overuse injuries,

• plateaus,

• and poor recovery.

Every once in a while, I do think it’s good to throw in workouts that mentally challenge an athlete’s resilience and toughness. But even then, I still like there to be intention behind it and a reason for why we’re doing it.

The athletes who make the biggest long-term progress are the ones who stay patient, train with purpose, recover properly, and trust the slow cooker process.

Don’t burn the steak.