I recently participated in a ju-jitsu workout as part of my martial arts continuing education. During the class, I was put through a 30 minute conditioning workout which included medicine ball work, footwork drills, push-ups, etc. I found the conditioning somewhat challenging, but not exhausting or beyond my abilities. I was able to complete every exercise without too much difficulty.
In this same workout there were 2 younger men (in their mid 20’s) who appeared very fit. One of these men had substantial muscle mass in the chest and shoulders – most likely from bench press and other free-weight training. Although this man looked very strong he had a hard time completing the upper body conditioning which involved body weight exercises.
As I drove home from this workout I started to think about how interesting it was that this young man, who could probably bench press almost twice his own body weight, could not complete even 60 seconds of medicine ball push-ups without going to his knees. I found it so interesting because I realized (again) that many people confuse strength for conditioning. In other words, training to lift heavy weights is not conditioning for real-time physical activity, it just develops strength.
To offer a simple definition, strength is the ability to lift a weight (body weight or external resistance). A very strong person can lift very heavy loads, whereas a weak person can lift only very light loads. Conditioning refers to the body’s ability to utilize strength at varying rates of speed and body positions. Often the word “conditioning” also implies the ability to maintain performance throughout an event (endurance).
Going back to the young guy with the big pecs . . . sure he can bench press way more than I can, but (luckily for me) martial arts events don’t take place in a weight room – they take place on the mat, the ring or the dojo. In these environments it is conditioning that counts, not just raw strength. Many people get focused on developing strength and forget they are training for performance in a sport, not to lift heavy weights.
