No Pain, No Gain?

Where the phrase does damage

“No pain, no gain,” is one of those tough-guy things that younger people like to say; I’m pretty sure I must have said it once or twice in my teens and twenties. Along with “go hard or go home,” I think it helps trainers psych themselves up for a tough workout, and that’s great – why not? The problem is when phrases like this seep into the general population and become a form of received knowledge about exercise.

It’s a problem because it makes too many people think about exercise as source of pain, and that if they don’t hit that level of intensity, they may as well not bother. Stay on the sofa, accept that weakening body, deteriorating posture and stiffening joints: the only alternative is gruelling physical torture!

It’s my experience that the exercise community over-promotes this way of thinking. Maybe this is because it has been dominated by younger trainers, high-level competitors and people who love to work out hard. I’ve noticed this mindset has been given renewed vigour by the HYROX, DEKA, ATHX (etc) communities, and even some running club members.

I definitely put myself in that love-to-train-hard category…but the years have taught me that, while some people do discover in their middle years that they like a tough workout, a lot of people very much don’t. Give them a hard session, and they’ll be put off doing it again.

What the research actually says

It doesn’t have to be this way. Harvard Professor Daniel Lieberman (author of Exercised – The Science of Physical Activity, Rest and Health) is clear that while exercise offers incredible health benefits, these don’t increase as intensity and volume increase. Rather, it is better to take a more moderate approach, and aim to be pretty active every day.

This sits well with me. I exercise hard because I like it, and if you want help exercising hard, I’ll gladly help you with it. But you can achieve amazing health gains with a moderate, more mindful approach to exercise, in which you tune in to how your body feels on a given day and make this, along the time available, the main driver. What does your body need today?

The mindset that actually works

The single most important thing, though, whether you love hard training or prefer a gentler approach, is that the no pain, no gain and go hard or go home attitude will lead to injury and/or illness. Both of these things will stop you training – and as we progress through our middle years, these breaks get longer, because our recovery slows.

The best and most effective exercise mindset? The one that enables you to keep exercising, consistently, over the years. No pain, no gain? Nah.