Jane Fonda popularized the term “No Pain, No Gain” in the 1980s with her workout videos; however, the concept behind the phrase has existed for thousands of years.  While, “No Pain, No Gain” is a catchy way to express the idea that working out muscles until they hurt is necessary to build muscle, most scientists agree that this is an ineffective approach to exercise.

The problem with the concept of “No Pain, No Gain” is that everyone’s threshold for pain and how they feel/describe pain is unique. At the gym, I challenge myself and can feel the muscles performing their job. However, if I feel pain, I take it as a sign to stop and think of ways to achieve my workout goals without unnecessary pain. In my experience working with patients who have recovered from injury or surgery, it is clear that each patient has a different tolerance for activity and doesn’t always experience pain the same way.

Our bodies speak to us, we need to be better listeners.  Clients often seek me out after they have injured themselves because they want to continue working toward their workout goal/sport/activity. In many of these cases, the clients say the injured body part was hurting on and off for an extended period of time, but waiting to seek help until the aching became constant. 

With this in mind, it is not a good idea to follow the “No Pain, No Gain” mantra because you will end up spending much of your training time in pain, finding ways to work around pain, and healing from pain. All of which, take away from time you could be putting towards actual training.  Often the solution is simple, such as changing the position of your forearm, changing how you grip the weights, or adjusting your posture. In other cases, the solution may be more complex and require balancing between stability for strength of some muscle groups and flexibility/mobility for other muscle groups. 

If you are experiencing pain during training, need a plan to work around an injury, or are just bored with your current workout plan, let’s set up a free consultation. I can help you make gains without pain. In addition, if you are interested in some great full body stretches, click on the “book now” link and type “stretches” in the comment section and we will send them to you for free.