Learn what to feel as you lift weights

No Pain, No Gain

Are you training in pain? And is that pain the right type of pain? Of course you don't want to have the type of pain that means you are hurting yourself. This is the bad type of pain and it is a warning signal to stop and check things out.

But there is also a good type of pain and it is this type of pain that enables you to grow. This is the type of pain referred to in the motto "no pain, no gain". If you are not training in this pain zone, you won't see any growth.

Growth and gains don't occur on the easy path of easy workouts. Five-time world master powerlifting champion Marty Gallagher points out "To trigger physical progress, you have to bump up against current boundaries. You have to test the limits and break the barriers. You have to deal with the pain and discomfort a serious exercise induces. You cannot trigger muscle hypertrophy (the core goal of all progressive-resistance training) by training submaximally."

As Gallagher states, serious exercise brings with it some pain. There is no way around this fact. And those who try to avoid it don't grow. They don't experience the gains that training in the pain zone produces.

Why the pain? Because the body is prone to stay where it is. It doesn't want to add a bunch more muscle; it prefers the status quo. So to get it out of its safety area, it has to be pushed. And pushed hard. That's where the pain comes in.

The pain comes in on the reps that start to hurt, where you wan to put the bar down. But more growth lies in those next few reps, so you have to push forward and handle the pain. And when you do, you start to grow. Pain and growth are intrinsically linked together. Those who figure this out and start to work with pain make the big gains. Are you?