There is an old saying about fitness training that we've all heard, "NO Pain, NO Gain"

I really don't know if I agree with the idea 100%, but to some extent it is true.

The big difference being that when we train hard and push ourselves outside the "comfort zone", we often experience muscle SORENESS.
Please don't confuse this with pain. Muscle soreness comes and goes, sometimes really bad, sometimes just enough that you know you've trained hard.

Pain, on the other hand, is when your low back makes a crunching sound, and you feel the knife like pain stabbing into you. Or your shoulders are becoming immobile and it really hurts (again, knife like pain) when you bench press.

Now, the whole idea behind this article is to explain that, no matter what, we are going to experience some pain from time to time during your training life.
I often have to comfort a customer asking questions about the severe knee pain or low back pain or whatever. They always want to know if the training is going to make them hurt.
YES, it is going to hurt, but that is muscle soreness. And YES you will get some real pain from time to time too.

We do our best to avoid pain, but to avoid the pain, we need to understand what is causing it in the first place.

The first reaction will be to stop training and get back on the couch with a Coors light and bag of chips. WRONG!

Figure out what is wrong first. (The problem)
Figure what is causing the problem. (The action that leads to problem)
Temporarily avoid the action that causes the problem.
Find a method to fix the problem (the fix)
And most importantly, alter the training program to maintain balance and avoid future problems.

I want to give you an easy and common example:

Low back pain while squatting
What is the problem? (tight hips, hamstrings and a weak torso)
What is the action that leads to the problem? (improper warm-up and mobility work, improper squat technique, and lack of torso training)
How do we avoid the problem action? (Temporarily stop squatting and any other movements that cause immediate pain)
What is the fix? (Proper warm-up and stretching of the hips and hamstrings prior to, and after training the lower body, learn proper squat technique , adding priority to training the torso and making the middle of your body stronger)

What will be done in the future to prevent such problems from re-occurring?
(See the above answer)

This is a quick and vague example, but I think you get the picture. When a problem occurs and you start experiencing some pain, don’t stick your head in the sand and keep grinding on, and also, don’t panic and quit lifting because you think you might need back surgery.

Find out what’s wrong and go from there.

With a balanced training plan and proper training technique, (which we at Ultimate Fitness can teach you), you can overcome the weakness and the pain, and keep moving towards your goals, whatever they may be.

Of course the muscle soreness is pretty much un-avoidable if you want to see any results.
Sorry, we can’t lie about it.

Paul Vaillancourt