Get Gains Without Pain

“Feel the pain”, “No pain no gain” these are two of the dumbest things you will hear at a gym. Muscle fatigue is good, that little burn is proof that you actually worked the muscle, but pain? Seriously, pain? Who wants pain? Are you going to keep showing up for pain? While it is normal to feel a little sore after a workout it shouldn’t really be extreme enough that you would call it pain.
What is it about a gym that will turn otherwise sane adults into idiots? You can always spot the idiots; they are the guys with much more weight than they should have on a bar, with an equally stupid partner there to cheer them on, pushing the weight in ways that really can only result in injury and then strutting around like they just discovered the cure for cancer. Ladies you have it easier because as men we all feel challenged by this idiot, like we need to join in his idiot games to prove something. Well here is the reality he is going to hurt himself and the real sad thing is he isn’t going to see any real gains from all his grunting. The best workout he is probably getting is that post one rep strut around the bench.
The idea of exercise isn’t to hurt yourself it is the opposite; you are trying to get healthier. If you have a bad knee like I do don’t go running, there is no reason to do more damage to that knee because once you do you will need recovery time which will put your further away from your goals. Sure running burns more calories than walking but how many calories will I be burning when I am lying on the couch in post knee surgery recovery? Never let your workouts cause you to not be able to work out.
If you hire a trainer and that trainer’s workouts leave you unable to walk for days later or cause such pain that you can’t sleep than you need to find a new trainer. Some trainers have gotten so addicted to the idea of achieving a perfect body and forget that you aren’t a recent college athlete who spends their life in the gym but rather a middle aged busy human being you spend too much of the past twenty years on the couch.
Always shape your exercise programs around fatiguing your muscles and keep in mind any existing injuries so that a problem doesn’t become a reason for surgery. Remember your goal is muscle fatigue not muscle destruction. For example on top of a bad knee I also have substantial damage in my right shoulder. So I make sure my weight training doesn’t do more damage by keeping the weights lower and by limiting the exercises I do for that shoulder and most importantly I listen to that shoulder, if it tell me to stop I stop. I have nothing to prove to anyone, my ego isn’t dictated by my workouts. My goal is to fatigue my muscles and not do any damage, as long as I do that I accomplished my mission.
Take care of yourself when you work out, remember you are there to improve your health not to hurt yourself. Make sure you take notice of the differences between fatigued, hurt and injured and keep your routines in the fatigue phase so you can keep coming back for more.

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