No Pain No Gain. Meh….
Yes, some lazy fragile people will find it beneficial to understand you need to push further than you want to to stimulate your body. Understanding pressure is what makes you change.
Listen…. It isn’t PAIN we’re looking for. Pain is NOT good. What you want is EXTREME DISCOMFORT.
Yeah, I know, it doesn’t sound quite right does it? Not the same ring to it.
Being sore in the muscles is very satisfactory. You worked well. But if you have Spinal, Bone, or Joint PAIN, adress the issue instead of pushing through it. That’s when you tear a muscle, do irreparable damage to your tendons and ligaments, break bones, miss lifts, and go for week injured and not able to lift. And you regress. You Lose gains…
Of course if you are already a competitive lifter, a pro athlete, and your pay check is dependant on you performing at your very limits, then you will have your share of injuries, it is unavoidable. Especially if you want to brush the edge of human capabilities. All the best have : Ronnie Coleman, Dorian Yates, Dmitry Klokov, Ed Coan, Floyd Mayweather, Bas Rutten, Tom Martin… . And they were all extra careful about dieting, sleep, massages, rest, and stretching.
Motivation is great. Hard Work is great. But true masters understand extreme RECOVERY. That is the best strategy.
If you encounter Pain, make sure you do everything you can to stop, and find out where it comes from. Poor Technique, Muscle Imbalance, Different lengths of arms or legs, poor posture, collapsed feet, bad sleep, junk food… Look at it all. And learn.
You need to couple motivation and hurdles with constant learning. Pain is a great teacher, and should show you when you need to STOP and THINK. You going out and giving it your all will get you some of the way, but pacing it and understanding how to balance rest and sleep is paramount to growth, progress and a healthy PAIN FREE body.
Go and ask any old person, any old athlete and ask them what they think the most important things are when you get to exercise and progress. It is technique, intensity, sleep, nutrition, and overall recovery.
So before you go around Bro Sciencing your way through the gym, take a good long look in the mirror and ask yourself what you want for the future?
Take it easy,
And have fun.
Morgan.