Evan Chilek Substack 3

Types of Exercise

In this substack post I will be listing and briefly describing various forms of exercising. I’m going to try to keep my explanations brief and save in depth analysis of each type of exercise in later posts. 

Yoga: 

Yoga is a system of training that involves physical, mental, and sometimes spiritual practices. As I mentioned in a previous post, yoga is an ancient form of exercise that has greatly transformed over the years. Yoga was initially much more of spiritual practice, and although it still is in some instances, a majority of people use it for physical exercise and relaxation. The most obvious physical benefit of yoga is flexibility, but it also helps with balance, mobility, and strength. Yoga is also great for relaxation due to its focus on breathing control. 

Running: 

Running, or jogging, is a self-explanatory form of exercise that involves, you guessed it, running. Millions of people run, with differing goals and intensity, from those who just want to get out and go for a jog to stay healthy or lose weight to marathon and ultra distance runners. Running is shown to have incredible health benefits no matter how you do it. Studies have shown that even 50 minutes a week lowers the risk of dying from any cardiovascular disease, but 2.5 hours is best. Aside from long term benefits, running also makes you feel better in day-to-day life. Many runners experience “runner’s high” which is caused by those neurotransmitters I spoke about in my last post. 

Bodybuilding: 

Bodybuilding is a form of exercise that has erupted in popularity in the past 50 years. It focuses on maximizing the physical appearance of your body. Professional bodybuilders go to extreme lengths to obtain the “ideal” physique, but for most people bodybuilding means focusing on hypertrophy over anything else. Simply put they want the muscles to look big and place less emphasis on achieving a certain function from their muscle. Since there is an emphasis on aesthetics, diet is a huge part of bodybuilding. Since macros (fats, carbohydrates, and proteins) play the biggest role in your physical appearance, bodybuilders focus on them when creating a diet. 

Powerlifting: 

Powerlifting is a form of exercise that focuses on maximizing the amount of weight that you can lift; specifically, they focus on squat, bench, and deadlift, referred to as the big three lifts. To achieve these feats, powerlifters focus more on how their muscles function as opposed to how they look. In powerlifting competitions, there is an emphasis on form, with improper form resulting in a lift being disqualified. This form of exercise is very similar to Olympic weightlifting, with the main difference being the lifts they compete with. Those who do Olympic weightlifting do the snatch and clean and jerk, which are more explosive and complex movements than the squat, bench, and deadlift. 

Athletic Training: 

Athletic training is a form of exercise that focuses on specific movements required in the athlete's sport. Generally, this includes explosive movements that make you more powerful and faster. This type of training also includes a good amount of balance, mobility, and preventative measures. Similar to powerlifting, the goal of practitioners of this type of training is to have functional muscle, not an aesthetic body. Because this form of lifting is extremely specialized, it is usually only practiced by competitive athletes. It is also very common for athletes doing this training to have a personal trainer that is an expert in their sport. 

The Definitive Guide to Yoga for Beginners and Experts (healthline.com) 

Running for health: Even a little bit is good, but a little more is probably better - Harvard Health