Suppose you meet two people on your first visit to the gym: one is a sturdy, athletic looking man with full fledged abs and massy muscles and the other is a person with not a typical athletic body but an overall healthy outlook and a sculpted body. Who would you assume to be more inclined and passionate toward fitness and gymming? The athletic looking man or the normal looking one? Probably the athletic one, as most people would assume the same! Right?
Now let me burst your bubble: both the people you've met may be equally inclined and passionate about fitness and gymming. The basic difference between these two people is that one goes to the gym for "bodybuilding" and the other goes for "fitness", and consequently follow two different exercise regimes. A lot of people confuse bodybuilding with fitness, assuming that only the people who look athletic are true gym-goers. But that's definitely not the case, as revealed from the example above. So what exactly is the difference between "fitness" and "bodybuilding" workouts? Let's find out!
Fitness VS Bodybuilding: What's The Difference?
Bodybuilding and fitness workouts are like the two offspring of the same parents: exercise. These two modes of exercise may look alike in many ways, but they're also vastly different in many other ways. Following are the main distinctions between bodybuilding and fitness exercises:
1. First Things First: The Purpose! To start it off in simple terms, the basic difference between fitness workouts and bodybuilding workouts is that of the ultimate goals expected out of each exercise mode. The ultimate goals of each exercise mode are very different, and are pretty apparent as well. You can see a bodybuilder (recall the example that we discussed in the beginning) and can tell right away, from his physique, that he's a bodybuilder! Right? The body speaks for itself!
However, in the case of fitness training, the external cues are not always as evident (again, recall to the example discussed in the beginning) as they're in bodybuilding. This difference stems from the fact that the goals of bodybuilding and fitness training are not alike. While the former focuses on both appearance and strength, the latter focuses exclusively on strength. To put it in simply, the two main goals of bodybuilding workouts are:
To increase the size of the muscles for aesthetic reasons.
To increase functional strength of muscles and body.
Whereas, the only main goal of fitness workouts is:
To develop functional strength in the muscles, body, joints, etc.
2. Techniques!
Since the main goals of bodybuilding and fitness training are different, so are the techniques via which these goals are reached.
In bodybuilding, as discussed above, the focus is on gaining muscle mass along with increasing strength. So the techniques used by bodybuilders are different from those used by fitness trainers. Bodybuilders push their muscles to the maximum limit, which creates little tears in them. This is followed by a recovery period in which the body tries to repair these damages. When this process is repeated several times, the muscles ultimately grow stronger and bigger. And that's how the bulky muscular look is achieved.
Fitness trainers, on the other hand, use techniques which help increase strength in the body, usually incorporating high-weight and low rep workouts. They also do cardio, since it fulfills their purpose of gaining strength.
3. Exercise Duration! Another main difference between bodybuilding and fitness exercise is that of the duration and frequency of workout involved. A bodybuilder's usual workout session is typically longer than that of a fitness trainer's. It usually lasts for around 2 hours, and involves intense activity. Also, a bodybuilder would usually be required to hit the gym 5 or 6 times a week.
A fitness trainer's usual workout workout session, on the other hand, would be much shorter, lasting for about 45 minutes. The workouts are usually less intense as compared to those of bodybuilders, and are also not as frequent as those of bodybuilders. 4. Calorie Count! Another significant difference between a bodybuilder and fitness trainer is that the former's daily diet includes greater number of calories than the former. While a bodybuilder is required to consume more than 5000 calories per day (half of which comes from protein sources), the former is ideally required to consume no more than 2500 calories per day.
Final Word
Bodybuilding and fitness training are basically two branches of the same tree (exercise), differing only in their motives, techniques and duration.
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