“NO PAIN NO GAIN” — This phrase is often used within athletic achievement activities. In the physical aspect of working the musculo-skeletal body, e.g. in such arenas as personal training and in competitive sports, the “no pain, no gain” mind-set serves well to push human activity to new heights. In both world competition or when our goal is simply a new personal best, “no pain no gain” has value as it gives us “extra push” to do more. And it is this “extra push” in these realms that will also produce more strength and more endurance for our next event or adventure. Clearly, lots of benefits can be had.
Yet when should we stop and relax? When is rest needed? With a look at human physiology, we see that rest time is a time of rejuvenation, and that too much “extra push” (or pushing for too long) can be damaging. As with most everything, there is a good balance to be had. So how can we know how far to push at any one time, and when should we rest?
Briefly stated, the physiology of building strength and endurance is seen well in these two examples: (1) strong muscle effort will build more sarcomere bridges in the muscle tissue over time and beget more strength, and (2) endurance runs will increase efficiency of oxygen transfer in the hemoglobin over time and create a larger buffer before the VO2max limit is reached.
The benefit of the rest state is that during rest our muscles get increased blood flow and it is via this blood flow that needed constituents are transported to the muscle and the accumulated metabolic waste is removed. I get help understanding the value of rest by seeing it as a time when muscles shift from a “work mode” to a “repair and rejuvenation mode”, i.e. when i sleep my muscles do not sleep, they shift into high gear to re-build tissue and scrub themselves clean.
So, when I combine episodes of exercise with adequate rest and significant periods of proper stretch, I enhance the overall muscle condition and physiology. And it is here in this discussion that I wish to pair-up “no pain no gain” with “pain is my guide”. My favorite yoga teacher explains that while stretching the body it is best to abide by the phrase “discomfort is to be embraced consciously whereas pain is to be avoided or worked around.” Just as we appreciate our body’s ability to get us beyond where we thought we could go in terms of achievement, our body appreciates it when we listen to it’s messages during the rejuvenation time. The body’s language works very well in both arenas and it is our job to listen.
When we choose to follow “no pain no gain” in our rigorous exercise, our body will stay with us and perform, this is true, but to a point. And when we slow and choose to include feelings of the signals of discomfort and pain as we stretch and rest, we tune in to the subtle language of the body’s messaging in these states and this can further its relaxation, thereby facilitating swift rejuvenation.
With this back-n-forth trust between body and mind, we can be good stewards of this magnificent pairing that we are blessed to be a part of. Consciously and appropriately using both “no pain no gain” and “pain as my guide” help us steer a path toward good health.
In a future blog, I will explore a specific patho-physiology that can develop from too much work (or not enough rest) which can be damaging to the body and can result in both acute and chronic pain issues — and what we can do to prevent it and cure it.