Practice vs. Exercise — What's the Difference?
Edited by Tayyaba Rehman — By Fiza Rafique — Updated on October 27, 2023
Practice is the repeated performance of an activity to improve skill; exercise is physical activity for health or training.
Difference Between Practice and Exercise
Table of Contents
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Key Differences
Practice refers to the act of repeatedly performing an activity to improve a skill or proficiency. In contrast, exercise is a physical activity aimed at improving health, strength, or fitness.
While practice often involves learning and refining skills or knowledge, exercise primarily focuses on physical exertion and conditioning of the body.
Practice can be applied to a wide range of activities, from musical instruments to public speaking. Exercise, however, specifically pertains to physical activities like running, swimming, or weightlifting.
The outcome of practice is usually skill enhancement or mastery of a particular task. In contrast, the outcome of exercise is improved physical health, stamina, or body conditioning.
Practice is typically associated with a specific goal of skill development, while exercise is often a routine activity for maintaining or improving overall health.
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Comparison Chart
Purpose
To improve skills or proficiency in a specific task.
To enhance physical fitness and overall health.
Nature
Can be mental or physical.
Primarily physical.
Application
Broad, includes arts, sports, academics, etc.
Specifically related to physical activities.
Outcome
Mastery or improvement in a specific skill.
Improved health, strength, or physical conditioning.
Frequency
As needed for skill improvement.
Regularly for maintaining health.
Compare with Definitions
Practice
The actual application or use of an idea, belief, or method, as opposed to theories relating to it
The principles and practice of teaching
The recommendations proved too expensive to put into practice
Exercise
Use or application of a faculty, right, or process.
The exercise of free speech is fundamental to democracy.
Practice
Application of an idea or method.
Putting his theories into practice proved more challenging than he anticipated.
Exercise
A task set to practice skills or abilities.
The math teacher assigned several exercises for homework.
Practice
The professional work of a doctor, lawyer, etc.
After years of study, she finally started her medical practice.
Exercise
Military maneuvers or drills.
The troops were engaged in a routine exercise.
Practice
The customary or habitual way of doing something.
It's common practice to shake hands when meeting someone.
Exercise
Exercise is any bodily activity that enhances or maintains physical fitness and overall health and wellness.It is performed for various reasons, to aid growth and improve strength, prevent aging, develop muscles and the cardiovascular system, hone athletic skills, weight loss or maintenance, improve health, or simply for enjoyment. Many individuals choose to exercise outdoors where they can congregate in groups, socialize, and enhance well-being.In terms of health benefits, the amount of recommended exercise depends upon the goal, the type of exercise, and the age of the person.
Practice
The customary, habitual, or expected procedure or way of doing of something
Modern child-rearing practices
Product placement is common practice in American movies
Exercise
Activity requiring physical effort, carried out to sustain or improve health and fitness
Loosening-up exercises
Exercise improves your heart and lung power
Practice
Repeated exercise in or performance of an activity or skill so as to acquire or maintain proficiency in it
It must have taken a lot of practice to become so fluent
Exercise
An activity carried out for a specific purpose
An exercise in public relations
Practice
US spelling of practise
Exercise
The use or application of a faculty, right, or process
The exercise of authority
Practice
To do or perform habitually or customarily; make a habit of
Practices courtesy in social situations.
Exercise
Use or apply (a faculty, right, or process)
Control is exercised by the Board
Anyone receiving a suspect package should exercise extreme caution
Practice
To do or perform (something) repeatedly in order to acquire or polish a skill
Practice a dance step.
Exercise
Engage in physical activity to sustain or improve health and fitness
She still exercised every day
Practice
To give lessons or repeated instructions to; drill
Practiced the students in handwriting.
Exercise
Occupy the thoughts of; worry or perplex
Macdougall was greatly exercised about the exchange rate
Practice
To work at, especially as a profession
Practice law.
Exercise
Activity that requires physical or mental exertion, especially when performed to develop or maintain fitness
Walks every day for exercise.
Practice
To carry out in action; observe
Practices a religion piously.
Exercise
A specific activity performed to develop or maintain fitness or a skill
Sit-ups and other exercises.
A piano exercise.
Practice
(Obsolete) To plot (something evil).
Exercise
The active use or application of something
The exercise of good judgment.
Practice
To do something repeatedly in order to acquire or polish a skill
With any musical instrument, you need to practice to get better.
Exercise
The discharge of a duty, function, or office.
Practice
To work at a profession
How long has that lawyer been practicing?.
Exercise
An activity having a specified aspect
An undertaking that was an exercise in futility.
Practice
To do or perform something habitually or repeatedly
Why not practice in the same manner that you preach?.
Exercise
A military maneuver or training activity.
Practice
(Archaic) To intrigue or plot.
Exercise
Exercises A ceremony that includes speeches, presentations, and other activities
Graduation exercises.
Practice
A habitual or customary action or way of doing something
Makes a practice of being punctual.
Exercise
To subject to practice or exertion in order to train, strengthen, or develop
Exercise the back muscles.
Exercise the memory.
Practice
Repeated performance of an activity in order to learn or perfect a skill
Practice will make you a good musician.
Exercise
To put through exercises
Exercise a platoon.
Practice
A session of preparation or performance undertaken to acquire or polish a skill
Goes to piano practice weekly.
Scheduled a soccer practice for Saturday.
Exercise
To make active use of; employ, apply, or exert
Exercise restraint.
Exercise control.
Practice
(Archaic) The skill so learned or perfected.
Exercise
To discharge (duties, for example).
Practice
The condition of being skilled through repeated exercise
Out of practice.
Exercise
To carry out the functions of
Exercise the role of disciplinarian.
Practice
The act or process of doing something; performance or action
A theory that is difficult to put into practice.
Exercise
To execute the terms of (a stock option, for example).
Practice
Exercise of an occupation or profession
The practice of law.
Exercise
To alarm, worry, or anger; upset
An injustice that exercised the whole community.
Practice
The business of a professional person
An obstetrician with her own practice.
Exercise
To engage in exercise.
Practice
A habitual or customary action or act
That company engages in questionable business practices. Facial tattooing is a standard practice among certain peoples.
Exercise
(countable) Any activity designed to develop or hone a skill or ability.
The teacher told us that the next exercise is to write an essay.
Practice
(Law) The procedure for trial of cases in a court of law, usually specified by rules.
Exercise
Activity intended to improve physical, or sometimes mental, strength and fitness.
Swimming is good exercise.
I like to do my exercises every morning before breakfast.
I do crosswords for mental exercise.
Practice
The act of tricking or scheming, especially with malicious intent.
Exercise
A setting in action or practicing; employment in the proper mode of activity; exertion; application; use.
The law guarantees us the free exercise of our rights.
Practice
A trick, scheme, or intrigue.
Exercise
The performance of an office, ceremony, or duty.
I assisted the ailing vicar in the exercise of his parish duties.
Practice
Repetition of an activity to improve a skill.
He will need lots of practice with the lines before he performs them.
Exercise
(obsolete) That which gives practice; a trial; a test.
Practice
An organized event for the purpose of performing such repetition.
Being on a team is hard: you're always having to go to practice while everyone else is taking it easy.
I have choir practice every Sunday after church.
Exercise
To exert for the sake of training or improvement; to practice in order to develop.
To exercise troops or horses;
To exercise one's brain with a puzzle
Practice
The ongoing pursuit of a craft or profession, particularly in medicine or the fine arts.
Exercise
(intransitive) To perform physical activity for health or training.
I exercise at the gym every day.
Practice
(countable) A place where a professional service is provided, such as a general practice.
She ran a thriving medical practice.
Exercise
(transitive) To use (a right, an option, etc.); to put into practice.
The tenant exercised his option to renew the tenancy.
She is going to exercise her right to vote.
Practice
The observance of religious duties that a church requires of its members.
Exercise
To occupy the attention and effort of; to task; to tax, especially in a painful or vexatious manner; harass; to vex; to worry or make anxious.
Exercised with pain
Practice
A customary action, habit, or behaviour; a manner or routine.
It is the usual practice of employees there to wear neckties only when meeting with customers.
It is good practice to check each door and window before leaving.
Exercise
(obsolete) To set in action; to cause to act, move, or make exertion; to give employment to.
Practice
Actual operation or experiment, in contrast to theory.
That may work in theory, but will it work in practice?
Exercise
The act of exercising; a setting in action or practicing; employment in the proper mode of activity; exertion; application; use; habitual activity; occupation, in general; practice.
Exercise of the important function confided by the constitution to the legislature.
O we will walk this world,Yoked in all exercise of noble end.
Practice
(legal) The form, manner, and order of conducting and carrying on suits and prosecutions through their various stages, according to the principles of law and the rules laid down by the courts.
This firm of solicitors is involved in family law practice.
Exercise
Exertion for the sake of training or improvement whether physical, intellectual, or moral; practice to acquire skill, knowledge, virtue, perfectness, grace, etc.
An exercise of the eyes and memory.
Practice
Skilful or artful management; dexterity in contrivance or the use of means; stratagem; artifice.
Exercise
Bodily exertion for the sake of keeping the organs and functions in a healthy state; hygienic activity; as, to take exercise on horseback; to exercise on a treadmill or in a gym.
The wise for cure on exercise depend.
Practice
(math) A easy and concise method of applying the rules of arithmetic to questions which occur in trade and business.
Exercise
The performance of an office, a ceremony, or a religious duty.
Lewis refused even those of the church of England . . . the public exercise of their religion.
To draw him from his holy exercise.
Practice
(US) practise
Exercise
That which is done for the sake of exercising, practicing, training, or promoting skill, health, mental, improvement, moral discipline, etc.; that which is assigned or prescribed for such ends; hence, a disquisition; a lesson; a task; as, military or naval exercises; musical exercises; an exercise in composition; arithmetic exercises.
The clumsy exercises of the European tourney.
He seems to have taken a degree, and performed public exercises in Cambridge, in 1565.
Practice
Frequently repeated or customary action; habitual performance; a succession of acts of a similar kind; usage; habit; custom; as, the practice of rising early; the practice of making regular entries of accounts; the practice of daily exercise.
A heart . . . exercised with covetous practices.
Exercise
That which gives practice; a trial; a test.
Patience is more oft the exerciseOf saints, the trial of their fortitude.
Practice
Customary or constant use; state of being used.
Obsolete words may be revived when they are more sounding or more significant than those in practice.
Exercise
To set in action; to cause to act, move, or make exertion; to give employment to; to put in action habitually or constantly; to school or train; to exert repeatedly; to busy.
Herein do I Exercise myself, to have always a conscience void of offence.
Practice
Skill or dexterity acquired by use; expertness.
Exercise
To exert for the sake of training or improvement; to practice in order to develop; hence, also, to improve by practice; to discipline, and to use or to for the purpose of training; as, to exercise arms; to exercise one's self in music; to exercise troops.
About him exercised heroic gamesThe unarmed youth.
Practice
Actual performance; application of knowledge; - opposed to theory.
There are two functions of the soul, - contemplation and practice.
There is a distinction, but no opposition, between theory and practice; each, to a certain extent, supposes the other; theory is dependent on practice; practice must have preceded theory.
Exercise
To occupy the attention and effort of; to task; to tax, especially in a painful or vexatious manner; harass; to vex; to worry or make anxious; to affect; to discipline; as, exercised with pain.
Where pain of unextinguishable fireMust exercise us without hope of end.
Practice
Systematic exercise for instruction or discipline; as, the troops are called out for practice; she neglected practice in music.
Exercise
To put in practice; to carry out in action; to perform the duties of; to use; to employ; to practice; as, to exercise authority; to exercise an office.
I am the Lord which exercise loving-kindness, judgment, and righteousness in the earth.
The people of the land have used oppression and exercised robbery.
Practice
Application of science to the wants of men; the exercise of any profession; professional business; as, the practice of medicine or law; a large or lucrative practice.
Practice is exercise of an art, or the application of a science in life, which application is itself an art.
Exercise
To exercise one's self, as under military training; to drill; to take exercise; to use action or exertion; to practice gymnastics; as, to exercise for health or amusement.
I wear my trusty sword,When I do exercise.
Practice
Skillful or artful management; dexterity in contrivance or the use of means; art; stratagem; artifice; plot; - usually in a bad sense.
He sought to have that by practice which he could not by prayer.
Exercise
The activity of exerting your muscles in various ways to keep fit;
The doctor recommended regular exercise
He did some exercising
The physical exertion required by his work kept him fit
Practice
A easy and concise method of applying the rules of arithmetic to questions which occur in trade and business.
Exercise
The act of using;
He warned against the use of narcotic drugs
Skilled in the utilization of computers
Practice
The form, manner, and order of conducting and carrying on suits and prosecutions through their various stages, according to the principles of law and the rules laid down by the courts.
Exercise
Systematic training by multiple repetitions;
Practice makes perfect
Practice
To do or perform frequently, customarily, or habitually; to make a practice of; as, to practice gaming.
Exercise
A task performed or problem solved in order to develop skill or understanding;
You must work the examples at the end of each chapter in the textbook
Practice
To exercise, or follow, as a profession, trade, art, etc., as, to practice law or medicine.
Exercise
(usually plural) a ceremony that involves processions and speeches;
Academic exercises
Practice
To exercise one's self in, for instruction or improvement, or to acquire discipline or dexterity; as, to practice gunnery; to practice music.
Exercise
Put to use;
Exert one's power or influence
Practice
To put into practice; to carry out; to act upon; to commit; to execute; to do.
As this advice ye practice or neglect.
Exercise
Carry out or practice; as of jobs and professions;
Practice law
Practice
To make use of; to employ.
In malice to this good knight's wife, I practiced Ubaldo and Ricardo to corrupt her.
Exercise
Give a work-out to;
Some parents exercise their infants
My personal trainer works me hard
Work one's muscles
Practice
To teach or accustom by practice; to train.
In church they are taught to love God; after church they are practiced to love their neighbor.
Exercise
Do physical exercise;
She works out in the gym every day
Practice
To perform certain acts frequently or customarily, either for instruction, profit, or amusement; as, to practice with the broadsword or with the rifle; to practice on the piano.
Exercise
Learn by repetition;
We drilled French verbs every day
Pianists practice scales
Practice
To learn by practice; to form a habit.
They shall practice how to live secure.
Practice first over yourself to reign.
Exercise
Physical activity for health or fitness.
She does 30 minutes of exercise every morning.
Practice
To try artifices or stratagems.
He will practice against thee by poison.
Exercise
The act of exerting one's powers in various ways.
Writing poetry was an exercise in creativity for him.
Practice
To apply theoretical science or knowledge, esp. by way of experiment; to exercise or pursue an employment or profession, esp. that of medicine or of law.
[I am] little inclined to practice on others, and as little that others should practice on me.
Practice
A customary way of operation or behavior;
It is their practice to give annual raises
They changed their dietary pattern
Practice
Systematic training by multiple repetitions;
Practice makes perfect
Practice
Translating an idea into action;
A hard theory to put into practice
Differences between theory and praxis of communism
Practice
The exercise of a profession;
The practice of the law
I took over his practice when he retired
Practice
Knowledge of how something is usually done;
It is not the local practice to wear shorts to dinner
Practice
Learn by repetition;
We drilled French verbs every day
Pianists practice scales
Practice
Avail oneself to;
Apply a principle
Practice a religion
Use care when going down the stairs
Use your common sense
Practice non-violent resistance
Practice
Carry out or practice; as of jobs and professions;
Practice law
Practice
Engage in a rehearsal (of)
Practice
Repeated performance to improve skills.
She made practice a daily routine to master the violin.
Practice
The exercise of a profession.
He entered the practice of law right after graduation.
Common Curiosities
What is the primary goal of practice?
The primary goal of practice is to improve skills or proficiency in a specific task.
Can practice be non-physical?
Yes, practice can be non-physical, such as practicing a language or a musical instrument.
What is the main benefit of exercise?
The main benefit of exercise is improved physical fitness and health.
Do exercises have to be strenuous?
No, exercises can vary in intensity from light to strenuous.
Can practice lead to professional proficiency?
Yes, practice can lead to professional proficiency in various fields.
Can practice be applied to intellectual tasks?
Yes, practice can be applied to intellectual tasks, such as problem-solving.
Is practice always goal-oriented?
Generally, practice is goal-oriented, focusing on skill improvement.
Is practice limited to individual activities?
No, practice can also involve group activities, such as team sports.
Is exercise only for athletes?
No, exercise is beneficial and recommended for everyone.
Are all forms of exercise physical?
Primarily, yes, but some exercises can have mental or relaxation components, like yoga.
Can exercise include mental activities?
Typically, exercise refers to physical activities, but some forms can have mental components.
Is regularity important in exercise?
Yes, regularity is important in exercise for sustained health benefits.
Can exercise be a form of recreation?
Yes, many people find exercise to be a recreational and enjoyable activity.
Does practice always lead to perfection?
Practice aims at improvement, but perfection depends on various factors.
Can practice be casual or informal?
Practice can be both structured and casual, depending on the goals and context.
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Fiza RafiqueFiza Rafique is a skilled content writer at AskDifference.com, where she meticulously refines and enhances written pieces. Drawing from her vast editorial expertise, Fiza ensures clarity, accuracy, and precision in every article. Passionate about language, she continually seeks to elevate the quality of content for readers worldwide.
Edited by
Tayyaba RehmanTayyaba Rehman is a distinguished writer, currently serving as a primary contributor to askdifference.com. As a researcher in semantics and etymology, Tayyaba's passion for the complexity of languages and their distinctions has found a perfect home on the platform. Tayyaba delves into the intricacies of language, distinguishing between commonly confused words and phrases, thereby providing clarity for readers worldwide.
