I have mixed feelings about the motto "No pain, no gain." I understand the premise of the statement. In the world of exercise, you're going to experience gains if you're willing to endure the discomforts of challenging yourself with hard work. Exercise isn't meant to be easy. The whole premise is that you're breaking down your body so that it can be built up stronger. Building muscles involves putting your body under stress as you create tiny tears in the muscles through the act of lifting progressively heavier weights. In this case, you aren't going to gain anything from your workout unless you're experiencing the pain associated with physical stress and strain, perpetual wear and tear.
However, if we define pain as "physical suffering or distress due to injury or illness," then experiencing pain is not going to lead to any kind of gain. Too often, I see people pushing through an injury. In my opinion, this can hinder the quality of your workout and undermine your body's healing process. The consequence can be an enduring injury that takes much longer to recover from. There's also a psychological toll that comes with a long-term injury - it wears you down, frustrates you, and can undermine your confidence in being able to tackle an activity. Sometimes, perhaps in response to this, there's a tendency to act tough and "bulldoze" your way through pain. As if just pushing through the pain will make it go away, like something to be conquered. I refer to this as adopting a Rambo mentality. Just remember that Rambo is a character in a movie, not a real person. Generally speaking, when the pain is injury-related there's a certain point where you shouldn't push further. Doing so aggravates the injury you've already got and can lead to additional injuries as you try to compensate.
But what about professional athletes? They play through all kinds of injuries. Sure, but they're also under the care of a whole team of physicians, trainers, and physical therapists, they're physically at a level of conditioning different from everyday people, and they're PAID to play through the pain. That doesn't mean that they should be out on the field in that condition, just that their paychecks are requiring that they be out there.
I prefer to approach exercise with the philosophy of "No pains, no gains." In this case, "pains" are defined as "laborious or careful efforts." Exercise is a labor; it demands effort. But exercise also demands thoughtful planning. If you push too hard one day, your body's going to rebel the next. If you don't push hard enough, your body's not going to experience any gains (imagine the expectation of building biceps just by curling your arms without any weights).
Everyday, I calibrate my workouts to where I'm at that day. I have my standard workout, which I expect to be able to do on a typical day. Some days I'm able to push myself further, say by doing 90 minutes on the stairmill. Some days I need to take it a bit easier, say by doing level 2 or level 3 on the elliptical. I need to be able to differentiate between "distress due to injury" and "stress due to challenging" - sometimes it can be hard to tell the difference. Exercise isn't supposed to be suffering or torturous, but it isn't supposed to be a cakewalk either.
However, if we define pain as "physical suffering or distress due to injury or illness," then experiencing pain is not going to lead to any kind of gain. Too often, I see people pushing through an injury. In my opinion, this can hinder the quality of your workout and undermine your body's healing process. The consequence can be an enduring injury that takes much longer to recover from. There's also a psychological toll that comes with a long-term injury - it wears you down, frustrates you, and can undermine your confidence in being able to tackle an activity. Sometimes, perhaps in response to this, there's a tendency to act tough and "bulldoze" your way through pain. As if just pushing through the pain will make it go away, like something to be conquered. I refer to this as adopting a Rambo mentality. Just remember that Rambo is a character in a movie, not a real person. Generally speaking, when the pain is injury-related there's a certain point where you shouldn't push further. Doing so aggravates the injury you've already got and can lead to additional injuries as you try to compensate.
But what about professional athletes? They play through all kinds of injuries. Sure, but they're also under the care of a whole team of physicians, trainers, and physical therapists, they're physically at a level of conditioning different from everyday people, and they're PAID to play through the pain. That doesn't mean that they should be out on the field in that condition, just that their paychecks are requiring that they be out there.
I prefer to approach exercise with the philosophy of "No pains, no gains." In this case, "pains" are defined as "laborious or careful efforts." Exercise is a labor; it demands effort. But exercise also demands thoughtful planning. If you push too hard one day, your body's going to rebel the next. If you don't push hard enough, your body's not going to experience any gains (imagine the expectation of building biceps just by curling your arms without any weights).
Everyday, I calibrate my workouts to where I'm at that day. I have my standard workout, which I expect to be able to do on a typical day. Some days I'm able to push myself further, say by doing 90 minutes on the stairmill. Some days I need to take it a bit easier, say by doing level 2 or level 3 on the elliptical. I need to be able to differentiate between "distress due to injury" and "stress due to challenging" - sometimes it can be hard to tell the difference. Exercise isn't supposed to be suffering or torturous, but it isn't supposed to be a cakewalk either.
I may be tough, but I'm no Rambo!
- Meal 1
- 4 egg whites and 2 eggs with salsa
- Meal 2
- 2oz chicken
- Green beans
- Meal 3
- Tablespoon of peanut butter
- Meal 4
- 4oz chicken
- Green beans
- Meal 5
- Protein shake
- Tablespoon of peanut butter
Exercise:
- Time: 60 minutes
- Level: Level 1 for 1 minute, Level 4 for 58, Level 1 for 1 minute
- Calories: 650 calories
Yeah, I actually chilled out for a couple days after Saturday, since I kind of messed up my shoulders between two days of Body Combat and one of swimming. But I am going to hit it again tonight, I think, to keep myself going. Don't want to slow down to couch potato.
ReplyDeleteKeep up the good work!