Sit & Talk: Teaching vs. Training

We draw a firm line between teaching and training and show how progressive overload builds real mental strength. Practical stories and cues turn ideas into action so we can face hard things with better form, more support, and steady growth.

• difference between teaching and training
• progressive overload for mindset
• time under tension versus reps for mental work
• problems as weights to build strength
• applying weekly challenges in real life
• asking for a spot and using support
• proactive plans over reactive habits
• tracking small wins to see compounding change

https://aarondegler.com/

Transcript

Welcome And Format

SPEAKER_00 0:01

Welcome to Sit and Talk. If this is your first time each week, we have a conversation. We join our live call for Sit and Talk. Sit and Talk is basically we just take a topic that we work on mental conditioning each week. It's a always end with a challenge. Kind of how do we strengthen our conditioning in mental aspects? How do we do that? So each week I share some different thoughts, different topics to challenge you to do that on an ongoing basis. So let's join our live call and how that looks and how it's different and kind of which one we're going for. So when we talk about teaching, some of you are teachers, you probably stand up in front of a class and share the information. There's times that I stand up and from walk and talk, healthy huddle, soul fit, I teach. And so what we do, so if we're gonna use our circuit class as an example. So if you came into your class, whether it's in the morning, it's a 5 a.m. class, 5 30 morning class, whether it's an even class, whenever it is, if you came in, and typically what do I do? I go around, I show each exercise, and you go and do it. And we start the timer or all the things, and and you actually do the work. What if you came in and I said, okay, have a seat at any station you want, anywhere you want, and I said, for the next 30 minutes, I'm gonna go from station to station and just explain to you how this exercise works, what muscle groups it works, what's the advantages, what's the different disadvantages, what's the things to look for, what's the things to be careful of? But we're not gonna do anything. I'm just gonna teach it to you, and then at the end of the 30 minutes, you can go ahead and go ahead and go home and do this on your own. How many of you would probably keep coming to a class at the gym? No, I'm good. And how how productive if we did that and you left after 30 minutes, how productive would you feel? No, I wouldn't. Would you have felt like you wasted your time? Yes, yes, yes, and so that is teaching. So if I was to do that, I would be teaching you all the ins and outs, and I would get to share all my knowledge with you, and it'd be so boring, and you would leave feeling totally unproductive. Even though I gave you great information that could suit you, that I mean I would set you up for success when you left here to go home and do it. But instead, what do I do? I go really quickly over each exercise to say this is how you do it. And I say, find a spot, and we start. And when we start, you start picking up weights, bands, all the different things. And I come along and just kind of correct and say, hey, do it this way, be careful doing it this way, all the different things. And so that is training. Well, if you sat in a circle, and I just told you that's teaching. Whereas training is I'm correcting you along the way, and you're taking what I said in the beginning and put it into practice. And not only you put it into practice, what are you lifting up and putting down? Weights. Weights. Because they're heavy. We want to your goal might be to get stronger, to have some leaner muscles, to be have more endurance, strength, all the different things. And to do that, we have to do some weights. So, really is what that's called is we do progressive overload. So, what does that mean? That means that over time, over weeks, months, you progressively overload your body with weights. So, why maybe this week did you do 10 pounds instead of five pounds last week? Because of progressive overload. You want to add weight, and progressive overload is how we hit those goals. So progressive overload might be as simple as you picked up a heavier weight. So let's say you picked up five extra pounds and you did five extra pounds and you did 10 reps. That's an extra 50 pounds you did for that set of 10. It's progressive overload. Now, so if you think if if if you added up the total amount of weight you did for all the sets, all the reps for the whole 30 minutes, and it was let's say 2,000 pounds, probably more than that. But then the next workout, you did 2,200 pounds. It doesn't mean that every exercise you added weight, it might have been you added a rep or two, you added a little bit of extra weight. Those, your overall load for that workout was more. So that's a progressive overload. Again, we don't really focus on it like that, but there's different workouts, different plans that that focus on progressive overload in that way. What's your total load for the workout? And that's how we get stronger, that's how we meet the goals that we're looking for, is by by training them. And we might even call that time under tension. When we do endurance, like we did the Monday and Tuesday this week, that was more endurance, that was time. So it was time under tension. And so then we would think about today and tomorrow is more about counting reps. So it's we're working on adding more weight, doing more reps, going heavier. So to train to get stronger, whatever format it is, we have to have some time under tension. We have to have some either it's longer time under a certain weight, or it's a heavier weight and shorter amount. So that's that's how we get stronger. That's how we meet our goals. So each week we have five virtuals. We have a virtual every day. And each time, just like today, we sit down, whether it's a walk, well, yes, we do have five virtuals, but we also do this in for walking, sit and talk. But I share with you a topic, you know, and I usually tell you, yo, here's three strategies, here's here, here's three ways, here's three ideas, here's eight things to be on the lookout for, here's two corrective ways. So I give you all the one, two, threes, etc. How to do whether it's a healthy huddle, how to do a mental conditioning, how to do soul fit, you know, all the things. One, two, three. I mean, I usually share an example. So if you get Fit by Friday, if you read Fit by Friday, that's what I do. I I start out with a story, personal story of some sort, and then share, you know, that's kind of an example. And so you may be like in any of our virtuals, it'd be a little harder if you're in a walk and talk, but any of virtuals, you may be, you may be taking notes. Maybe it's physically or mentally. What do I always end every Fit by Friday with? Or what do I end every healthy huddle, sit and talk, walk and talk, soul fit? What do I end it with? A challenge. A challenge, exactly. And why would I end it with a challenge? So you can put it into action. So you can put into action. So all of you, most of you said that spoke up that if you came in and ready to work out, ready to get physically strong, ready to get buffed, this is the year 2026, new year, new me. And I said, have a seat, we're gonna really talk this out, and then I say, Good job, y'all. The challenge is to go out and do this workout and get strong. And and all those that spoke up say that would be unproductive and a waste of time. So bless you. So, how many of you sit in a walk and talk, healthy huddle, soul fit, or read a fit by Friday and a givea challenge, and you walk away from it and do nothing and go, man, I really did good. I sat in, I listened good, and you did not and you do nothing with it. Absolutely nothing. You might say that was you wouldn't say it's unproductive, but really it it probably might be. The purpose of the challenge is because that's where the training comes in. Um how many of us have problems? All of us, everyone, everyone. How many of us don't want problems? All of us, all of us, we all have problems, but we all don't want them. Um and I'm gonna challenge that and say, why don't we want problems? And and I'm with you. Uh I mean, there's times I'm like, I don't want any problems. But we want it to be easy, we want it to be easy. So being easy with no problems means you come in, sit down at a station at a spot, you know, and um Miss Gillen when uh Tina Gillen, when I was uh student teaching, you know, it was come in and sit on your dot. And and because it had dots painted, and that was the way they classroom management and all that stuff. But um, but those problems, what do they do? There are weights, there are five-pounders or ten-pounders or fifty-pounders. So um, just like uh the weights, those problems are of a varying weight, and the challenges I offer you at the end of um anything we do, a Fit by Friday or any of our virtuals, is really because um problems we all have them, and so everything we talk about can be applied um to a problem. We all have different sorts of problems. So something we've talked about can uh be applied to a problem. It's that's what the training looks like. Um, saying we don't want any problems is like saying, you know, we always want to be weak and scrawny. You always want to be weak and scrawny. Most of you are coming because you don't want to be weak and scrawny, you want to be uh fit fit for life, but yet when it comes to our mental conditioning, we want the easy route. We don't want to be fit for the hard things. We go, oh, I don't want that problem. Um, oh, I don't want that thing. Um today's what Wednesday? Um if you've um and I think Monday night we talked about the number of hours. Was it similar to um uh the amount of mental conditioning, whether uh mentally or spiritually, that you are applying, that you're doing as much as you were physically. And a lot of you said, you know, three to five, three to ten hours. Um it was pretty close. So then my challenge is I I bet you've used what you've done in the gym this week. Maybe uh maybe you had to get up and down a ladder, maybe you had to help somebody carry something, maybe you had to lift something, maybe you just went through the day and you thought, man, I had lots of energy. So by Wednesday today, and all the things you've listened to them done over the last three days, we'll just say two days, on average are probably about six hours already. What have you taken and applied to your challenges of life? And the hope is that that something should have been applied, because surely nobody went two days without any problems. You might have already had a hundred problems today. But and you're living the easy life if you haven't had any problems in the last two days. And and we talked about problems are all different sorts of things. And because just like training, just like physical training, we lift the weights, we put them down, and whether it's endurance, whether it's reps, like we talked about, it's time under tension. It's progressive overload. That is the only way you get stronger physically. Guess what? That's the only way you get mentally stronger is by progressive overload. There's a little more, a little more, a little more. Um, there's a guy I'm following, name's Colin Colin O'Brady. He just got to the South Pole. He's been trekking, he set a he just set a world record for going solo. I can't remember where he started, but so far he's been 91 or 92 days solo, trekking to the South Pole, and he's gonna keep going until he runs out of food. But it but solo, he he can't have contact with anybody, nobody can help him. He he packs his own food, he does all those things. So it sounds like a pretty, I mean, mentally, that would be, could you imagine being in not seeing anybody, being alone for yourself for 90 days, going through all the different things of being cold, of he's had a lot of different things happen. But he didn't just start out that. He already has set numerous world records from rowing across the Drake Passage to climbing the seven summits in the world, the highest summits in the world in record time. Um he's done a lot of things. He's already crossed the Antarctica once for the first one to do it. He's already done that. He was saying now to go the longest. Um so he's already had all these world records. So that mental conditioning that he was, and this is his longest solo trip. Um he's shooting for a hundred days. So that didn't start out by just, oh, I think I'm gonna do this. This sounds fun. He's trained for it. He's done all sorts of other events, time under tension, to get mentally prepared for this uh event that's been challenging. I think, I mean, can you imagine he hasn't bathed, he hadn't showered, he hasn't done anything in you know 90 days. I think I think it was 25 or 26 days before he changed his socks. Yeah. So that's disgusting. So so think about that. But so that's what training looks like. And that's really because I you know, I here at the gym when we're doing a circuit class, I can walk around and say, hey, don't you think you can go a little heavier? Hey, did you did you forget what I showed you? Let me show you for the third time. Let me really show you how to do it this time. But I can follow you around and help and and push you. That's why it's called a personal trainer or group training. That's why we call it small group training, because I can help push you to that next thing. There's there's some people that never thought they were gonna run. Progressive overload, people are running. Some people thought they could only run a certain speed, they're running faster. Some people thought they could only lift so much, they're lifting more. Some people thought, I'm gonna have to have every band in the world to do a pull-up. Some are down to a couple bands, some are down to one band, some are down to no bands because of progressive overload and training. But the thing is, when we talk about things and I offer you a challenge, I can't follow you around. I can't, when you say those comments, I can't go, hey, did did you really, did you really know what you were saying? Was that really fair and accurate to the other person? Maybe you didn't hear it the right way. Maybe you jumped to conclusions. Maybe you shouldn't have taken that quite so hard because I don't think that's the way they meant it. Now, what if you try to look at the problem this way? Would that help a little bit? Now, remember when we talked about what problems are and how do we learn from them? What can you learn? Is this a lesson that you're trying to learn? Now, your faith has really been tested. Does that mean there's maybe an area you need to grow more in? Just asking. So I can't do that with you. I can't walk around with you and do that all the time. So when I give you that challenge at the end of anything we do, it is really for that. It's for because I want you to take that and be able to apply that into your week somehow. And typically the things we talk about, they can be, they can probably be applied pretty quickly. I listened to a sermon earlier this week, and it was talking about, you know, about the why we have things happen and different things. And so as Kim and I were talking about this week, I sent it to her, and it's things that we could, we I mean, one of the things I implemented yesterday that I thought that's spot on. I need to implement that. I can see how that can affect my life. So I sent it to Kim and she sent me back almost the same sentence I heard. She sent it back to me to say, you know, I really like this. You know, I was listening to another another YouTube that Kim sent me from a doctor, and it was talking about how how sometimes people are measured, talking about their medical measurements. Maybe somebody somebody's somebody somebody might not be on mute. We're fixed to be in a personal conversation. Yeah, we may not want that. But but she shared about did you park in the garage? They parked outside today. I can't even tell who it is. I can't either. I can either outlook, but it doesn't seem so long. Everybody shows that they're all. So that's interesting. Huh? Okay. They quieted down. Can everybody hear me? Yes. Okay. So she mentioned that I'm gonna mute everybody. If you have your hand, just raise your hand if you have a question. All right. So she's she was saying that when it comes to labs and doctors and all, sometimes they measure people, but they use the wrong measuring tool, the wrong measuring stick. So I'm just really saying that maybe labs look all normal, but they're not measuring according to the measurements or the measures that that person needs to be measured. So again, it was things that could be implemented right away. And and that's really we we should always be listening to the catch those things to be able to see how we can apply that. So so definitely if there should be maybe, maybe it's not something I say necessarily, but if everybody's doing three three or more hours a week, there should be something you listen to, something you catch that you're you're applying. And that's really where the training comes in, because sometimes training means I have this really good program. And how many times have I have I mentioned we do a workout, whether it's on treadmill or circuit, and I go, that looked really good on paper. But when it's applied, it goes, that didn't turn out so good. It took too long, it didn't work, we had all these problems, it just didn't work. And so that's what sometimes it is. It's we hear something go, let me try that, and go, man, that did not work very well for that situation. It's just like training. If you're training for some event and you use this training program, and you got to the event, go, that program did not prepare me at all. I need some other things to do. We have to, so that's the only way we find out is by by training. So we have to try to stop trying to avoid the training. I mean, I think sometimes that's what we do because we stop we don't want to do the heavy lifting of life. And it's sucky sometimes. And I agree, I'm not saying that we should all be butterflies and roses and rainbows, because it's not. And we don't want those seasons. We don't want those times. I've had this discussion this week that we don't want those times, but they come. And and and maybe, you know, maybe when we have those, I think, well, maybe it's making me stronger for something else. It's preparing me for another event, another race that I need to do the heavy lifting now because maybe, maybe it's an area, oh, I didn't realize that was a weakness. And it kind of caught me off guard. So I need to work on that because that's a weakness. And the more we apply these challenges that I share, or apply those things that we we take away from the podcast we listen to, to the YouTube we watch, the things we read, and we start applying those lives. And is what we see just like our physical well-being with progressive overload, you've seen changes. Many a lot of you have. Now, if you haven't, then I'm not doing a very good job. But since you've been coming for months, you should be stronger, you should be faster, you should feel fitter. Things might feel different. Everyday life seems a little bit easier when it comes to the the things you pick up, you put down, you move. Because of progressive overload, because of the way we structure it. And the same thing is true. If you've been coming to a walk and talk, sit and talk, healthy huddle, you should be able to see some changes over the last few months in the way you view food, in the way you communicate with your spouse, in the way you communicate with friends, family, other people, strangers, how you are working on that inner dialogue. Those things should you should see a difference from a month ago, from two months ago, definitely from six months ago. You should see some changes. If I teach you, you hear the words, you have head knowledge. If I train you, I give you the heavy things to lift up and put down. And in this environment, I give you the challenges, the heavy things to lift. And I say, here you go, pick it up, put it down. And guess what? Training is also about spotting. Sometimes people go heavy and I have to spot them because it's too heavy. Or they can lift it, but just in case something goes south. Why do I have appointments and you that you can schedule because it's a spotter? Is to say, hey, this is really heavy. I'm not really sure if I can do it. Can you can you give me a hand with this? And just like I help people with the weight, I can help you lift some of those things to say, yes, you got this. You are going in the right direction. You can do this weight. It is heavy, but you are strong. Pick it up and you can do it. And so that's why they're there because I can't be with you every second of the day. Does it mean I have all the answers? No. But like I've told you before, I don't have to be a perfect great trainer. I just have to know what I'm doing. Um, there's trainers way better out there than me. And there's a lot way worse. But I'm the only one that I that I can, I'm the only one I can be. So I do it the best I can. Same thing with spotting you with the heavy things, the challenges that we talk about here. I can always help you think of a different way, look at a different way, work through things. What's the challenges? What's the rewards? What's the things? Is it fear holding you back? All those things. Spend a lot of time applying all the things to share these challenges and how to overcome them, how to get stronger with progressive overload. So, yes, I want to teach you, but I really want to train you. Because I want, why do we do all the things? Because I want a 360 approach. I want your life to be better physically, mentally, and spiritually in all the areas. And and I can only be with you in one of them, and that's physically. The rest, I have to train you in different ways. Not not train you the way I want you to be, but to train you to be the best you that there is, because there is no other you but you. Um, so the challenge is um, are you training or are you just being a student and taking in the information? Um, and if the answer is just a student, I would really challenge you on this to start being a trainee and training for life. Because if heavy things come and you're not prepared, it it it there's things you can do to be prepared. Just like you wouldn't go to an event unprepared, you wouldn't show up at a problem unprepared. We don't, we we can't say what the problems are because they come at us all randomly. But we can definitely control how we show up to the problem. It's better to be proactive than reactive. Reactive never turns out good. Proactive, I have a plan, I know what to do, I know how to handle this, I have somebody to spotting me if I need it, and I can I can be successful. Any thoughts, comments, or questions? I think I unmuted everybody. You're you're still on mute, Kimbo. No questions, no questions. Okay, okay, good. Then I then I did it right. So, but if you do have any questions, comments, or thoughts, let me know. And look at those those 15-minute success appointments. That's there for you for me to help you be successful in whatever area of life you want. Doesn't matter what it is, all the principles we talk about are applicable to everything we do. So look at those. And if you do have any comments, thoughts, questions, then let me know. Thank y'all. Have a wonderful evening. And thank you to each of you for joining us tonight on Sit and Talk. Look forward to seeing you right here next time on Sit and Talk.