This could be the most damaging maxim in the fitness/performance industry. Not because it doesn’t have merit, you must challenge the body in order to stimulate an adaptation, the issue (as in many cases) is a lack of nuance.
Pain
Noun: A highly unpleasant physical sensation caused by illness or injury.
This is the pain commonly experienced by gym goers, under the impression that this is normal, they continue to ‘push through’ the pain.
In many cases, this leads to much more severe pain, often leading to the person being unable to train.
The large majority of people aren’t willing to wake up the morning after a workout with a sore back or aching knees, all in the name of looking better naked, and the sad thing is it’s completely unnecessary.
Training is not supposed to hurt. Not that kind of hurt. That’s your body telling you something is wrong.
Movement should feel good, it should feel smooth, stable and strong. Not painful, sharp, tight, burning, tingling, or any of the other feelings that people would generally recognise as bad outside of the context of ‘exercise’
I believe this to be one of the biggest barriers that stop a large percentage of non-exercisers from getting hooked on movement and receiving its numerous benefits.
The important distinction that needs to be made is between the DISCOMFORT of high levels of effort and the PAIN that can come from improper loading protocols and incorrect movement patterns.
While this may seem like a simple concept, if more people really understood this, I would almost certainly be out of a job.
This is why the number one thing I say on a daily basis to my clients is: “How does that feel?”
My clients will attest to this, and I’m sure it makes me sound like a broken record, but it is hands-down the most important question any coach or trainer can ask, which is why I ask it on average 5-10 times per session.
The reason it’s so important is that, regardless of how a movement may look in a textbook, or how many times I’ve seen it performed, or how close to perfect it may appear, what really matters is how it FEELS to the client or athlete.
If I don’t get the response I’m looking for, it is often only a small tweak to position to fix it, but if I never ask, I will never be able to make those tweaks. I have lost count of the number of times I have been able to refine and evolve the way I coach movement patterns and advance my skills purely by asking this one question over and over.
Exercise should not cause pain, it is worth investing the time and energy into achieving a level of movement competency that ensures that you save the ‘pain’ for when it is actually necessary: when you are challenging your body.
Creating change in the body is hard, and you will achieve much higher levels of performance by working with your body instead of against it.
Alan Romero
Director and Founder
www.romeroathletics.com
