I’m sure most of you have heard the saying no pain no gain when exercising/working out, but is this something you should adhere to?
I often hear people say that at the beginning of their run they have some pain but they just run through it and hope by the 3rd mile it goes away.
Or a dancer who feels a “pop” in their knee, but continues to dance for fear that someone else will replace them and that would be the end of their career.
Or the person in the gym working out feeling that unless he/she has pain in their muscle, they are not taking the workout to its limits and therefore not going to gain any strength. Or in walking, you just want to get that extra ¼ mile to say you went further to show “improvement”, but your hip is killing you.
I also have those that have had pain for years and say that they just have to accept that that is their way of life, unless the pain increases from its status quo, diminishing their quality of life.
Pain is your body’s way of communicating to you. Similar to a baby who can’t speak yet but uses various cries to communicate if they are hungry, or wet, or tired.
Pain is telling us something is not right and we should listen to it and fix it before the issue becomes worse. Think about it this way, when you place your hand on a hot stove, the brain has now sent messages to the nerves to create pain to correct this. What do you do immediately, remove your hand from the stove because 1 it hurts and 2 you don’t want to create further damage.
So how do you correct this:
1. Stop what you are doing
When you feel pain, stop the activity. Working through the pain could create a more serious injury.
2. Redo the activity to make it painfree
Try doing the activity again a different way and see if doing it differently makes it painfree. This is the only way the body learns how to do it, whether it’s reaching, lifting, or doing an exercise.
3. Correct your mechanics
If you were taught the correct way to do the activity, think about how you were instructed, listen to your body if it feels right, and try doing it again to see if now you are painfree.
4. All else fails: engage your core
Your core is the center of your body, your powerhouse, the area that provides stability to your body so you can move smoothly and easily. If you are not sure how to correct your alignment or movement, then engage the lower abdominals/pelvic basin/gluteals.
In conclusion, pain is your body telling you “I don’t like this” so listen to it and not ignore it. Change how you just moved to make the activity painfree. Keep doing that until the pain is eliminated.
Can’t seem to get rid of those pains on your own? This is what we specialize in. Click here to schedule a FREE 20 minutes phone call to discuss your issues and see how we can help you.
To Your Health,
Cynthia
