by Alan Stein
“Do you know the difference between training and workout out? Training is when you have a progressive plan with measurable goals and continual challenges. Working out is anything that makes you sweaty and tired but not necessarily better because it lacks consistency, direction and specificity.”
I couldn’t agree more. This concept is so applicable to your off-season summer training program because it lays the foundation for your success next season. Picture a pyramid. A wide base (foundation) yields a higher peak. Your strength & conditioning foundation gives you the ability to perform your basketball skills at a higher level, perform them with more efficiency, and perform them for the entire game (without letting fatigue play a factor).
That is why the best players and the best teams are in the best shape!
I am certainly a staunch believer in working hard. Intensity and consistency are the keys to success in anything… especially training. But you have to be working towards something to make it effective. You have to have a plan. You have to have goals. You have to make progress towards those goals every workout.
Working out just to workout, with no direction, will give you mediocre results at best. Puddles of sweat and aching muscles are only valuable if they are taking you closer to where you are trying to go.
Which means you must work out with a purpose. Every rep of every set of every exercise of every workout must be done for a reason!
Ballin' with Barber 
“Working out just to workout, with no direction, will give you mediocre results at best.”
Couldn’t have put it better myself. Most people are spinning their wheels in the gym because they don’t understand that. Good post.