Dealing With Pain in the Gym – No Pain – No Gain?
Greetings Athlete!
Dealing With Pain in the Gym – No Pain – No Gain? As I train people in the gym or a class, invariably someone will complain of pain either before, after, or sometimes during an exercise. I’m not talking about a little huffing or puffing or the effort to make that last rep. I’m talking about that pain that suddenly appears somewhere in your body that you know doesn’t belong there. It could be your back, arms, neck, knee, shoulder, triceps, biceps, hamstrings. Just about anywhere. I have a few clients, both men and women, who believe in the adage of No Pain – No Gain. Most of them are younger and think you need to work through the pain and keep going. They come in with shoulder pain, or knee pain and want to work out. What would you do? Does “it depends” seem like a good answer? I don’t think so.
Your body is in pain, because it is injured. Even Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness (DOMS) is related to muscle injury that resulted from your last workout. When I was about 45 (20 years ago!) my wife bought me a set of golf clubs and some lessons for my birthday. At one point, to get better, I went to the driving range almost every day for about three weeks and hit a bucket of balls. Somewhere during the third week, my left biceps was sore but I attributed it to DOMS from my workouts. One day, I took a swing and I heard a loud SNAP and a slight sting in my upper left arm. I thought – What was THAT??? It hurt a little but it wasn’t swollen and I could move it, so I didn’t do anything about it. Well, it was painful the next day, but not too bad. I thought – “it will get better”! I kept working out (but stopped going to the range) but it didn’t get any better. I finally went into the doctor and he told me I tore one of the bicep tendons in my arm and that because I waited almost three weeks, there was nothing he could do about it and surgery wasn’t recommended. So – today I still have that torn ligament and my left arm is about 80% strong as my right. The moral of the story – If your body hurts stop and listen to it. It is trying to tell you something.
Now I am not a doctor or physical therapist, so this is NOT medical advice. I’m not telling you how to fix your pain. What I am saying is that if you have pain, let your body rest. Workout other body parts that don’t hurt. Don’t exercise the body part that hurts, until the pain goes completely away. If the pain is severe, or lasts more than a few days, a trip to the doctor may be warranted. Here are my two rules:
- Rule Number One: Don’t Get Hurt
- Rule Number Two: If you get hurt let it rest and get help if it doesn’t go away!
You may be thinking – “John – that is common sense!” I hate to break it to you, but it is not as common as you think. In fact, many times people tend to think that the rule applies to everyone else, except them!
When I was flying as a Naval Flight Officer for the US Navy, there was an adage that they taught us during training. There is no such thing as an old bold pilot! Meaning all the bold pilots ended up crashing. If you want to age well, don’t ruin your body by trying to work through pain and making it worse.
Remember – you are Built For More!
JT