Enduring Pain is the Road to Success
Everyone experiences pain in their lifetime, whether it’s the physical pain of accidentally knocking into something, mental pain of waking up early to get to work, or emotional pain when you lose someone you love. But what exactly is pain and how is it related to fitness?
Pain is basically a discomfort highly associated with effort. When your body is put through an environment that it is not used to, it will warrant attention to your brain through pain. This can be either psychological or physiological. As you push yourself beyond your body’s limit, your brain will try and protect you by saying, “Hey, this does not right, stop whatever you’re doing and take a break!”
However, when done right, pain is actually necessary for growth, both physical and mental. It is therefore important to make sense of and find purpose of the pain. How you handle pain can define how successful you are, not only in achieving your fitness goals, but your life goals as well.
In this article, I will be going through the types of pain you will experience during your fitness journey, the positives of pain, and tips to endure pain. Let’s dig in.
“Pain is inevitable. Suffering is optional.” Haruki Murakami
The Types of Pain you will Experience
Expectations are game-changing. Before setting out on a goal, it is important to set our expectations right, as it will change your experience about everything. Therefore, it is important to expect the types of pain you will face during your fitness journey. Here are 3 types of pain you will experience.
Arguably, the most painful part of your fitness journey is starting it. You’ll have to make changes to your routine, prioritize your time differently and spend money on a gym membership. The inertia to start is immense because you’re comfortable with spending your free time watching Netflix or lazing at home instead. And when you finally start your workout, you’ll feel the pain of muscle soreness the day after. Everyone will experience these pain when they are starting out. Be ready for it.
Another unavoidable pain you will experience during this journey is physical pain. Lifting heavy weights and squeezing out the last few repetitions will be painful. Completing the last 500 m in your 5 km jog will be tough. The lactic acid accumulation from the last minute of your 30 minutes High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) will be hurting. The ache you experience when you wake up the next day after an intense workout will be nasty. The pain you experience from hunger can be miserable at times. It is important that you recognize that all these pain are inevitable if you want to improve your fitness.
“Pain makes me grow. Growing is what I want. Therefore, for me pain is pleasure.“ -Arnold Schwarzenegger
Apart from physical pain, there will be mental challenges too. Sacrificing time to workout instead of playing video games or socializing will be challenging. Eating less of your favorite cakes will be upsetting. Waking up early to go for a run will be torturous. Finishing the last mile of your run or doing that last set of squats will be mentally uncomfortable. Such mental pain are part of the journey towards achieving your fitness goals.
Positives of Pain
Pain is an inevitable part of life we all have to deal with, whether we like it or not. Even if you choose to avoid the type of pain associated with fitness, you will still have to deal with pain in one way or another. When it eventually experience pain, instead of taking it negatively, why not try to turn it into a positive experience? By doing so, it will help you to better manage pain, hopefully embrace it, and reap its benefits.
The most obvious benefit of pain relating to fitness would be improved physical fitness, muscle growth and fat loss. Cardiovascular endurance is increased when you put your body through the pain of running, which leads to improved efficiency to process and use oxygen. Muscle is build through damage of muscle fibres and subsequently muscle repair. The pain you go through when you feel hungry likely means that fat is being utilized for energy, which will result in fat loss. The work you put in is proportional to the results you will achieve. Running more would mean better heart health and increased stamina. Lifting weights more frequently would mean greater muscular gains. Eating more nutritious food and sticking to your nutrition plan more closely would mean losing fat faster.
Another benefit of pain is personal growth, which positions you for success. Pain challenges you and leaves you tougher to face bigger obstacles. If you have proved to people around you, but more importantly yourself, that you have overcome pain and suffering, you will have more confidence to take on bigger tasks, knowing that you’re capable of doing so. It can also make you more resilient to stress. You know that as long as you put your mind to something, you will be able to achieve it. For example, if you are able to wake up at 6 am to run daily consistently, you can be sure that you will have the grit to achieve your goals in the future.
‘When He has tested me I shall come forth as gold.’ – Job 23:10
Pain also gives you the self-awareness of how much pain you can take. For example, if going to the gym 5 days a week affects your energy level significantly, you might want to reduce your training frequency. If completely cutting ice-cream out of your diet affects your mental health by increasing your stress level, then you might want to still indulge in it once in a while. On the other hand, pain can also give you an indication of which aspects of your life needs improvement. If you can run 5 km in 30 minutes without feeling pain, you might want to increase your pace or distance. If you want to lose weight but have never felt hungry, you might want to reconsider your nutrition plans. Remember, you need to get out of your comfort zone in order to grow.
‘Great things never came from comfort zones.’ - Neil Strauss
Last but not least, pain allows you to appreciate the positive aspects of life better. Without darkness, we would never appreciate light. If you experienced the pain of waking up earlier to exercise, you will better enjoy sleeping in late on your rest day. If you’ve done heavy squats, you’ll appreciate leg extensions better. If you’ve ran a half marathon before, you’ll overcome 10 km runs better.
Joy wouldn’t feel so good if it wasn’t pain.’ – Curtis Jackson
Tips to Endure Pain
The biggest reason why people give up is because they tell themselves that they are unable to endure pain. The struggle is more mental than physical. Here are some tips to endure pain.
First, challenge negative self-talk.
As mentioned above, the most painful part of this journey is starting it. Recognize that you have to start somewhere, and you will never be ready until you start. And once you’ve started a routine, know that half the battle is won.
Believe you can handle hurt. Your mental capacity to endure pain is far greater than what you perceive. The more pain you endure, the higher your pain tolerance, until a certain point where you may even get used to pain.
The journey towards improvement is not always a happy choice. Understand that if you experience pain, it means it is working. If you’re tired, know that it is normal. If you’re in an uncomfortable position, know that you’re improving.
“Failure gave me strength. Pain was my motivation.” - Michael Jordan
Second, think less and just do it. When you have to make a decision, force yourself to choose the harder option by default. Swallow the bitter medicine that will make you feel better eventually. This reduces the dilemma of choice. For example, if you’re in bed thinking whether to get up early to exercise tomorrow, the answer is to do it. If you’re at the gym thinking if you should go for one more set, the answer is to do it. If you’re thinking whether to eat ‘clean’ today, the answer is to do it.
Third, divide and conquer by breaking into manageable parts. Start slow, and push yourself progressively. Break your training into manageable chunks, focusing on intermediate landmarks. For example, breaking a training program into mesocycles, or to add ‘refeed’ into your diet plans. Don’t forget to reward yourself after achieving certain micro-goals!
Last, find a training partner. An external push can take you to new heights that you didn’t think were possible. You learn that you can do astonishing things. Challenge one another. Motivate each other. There is more to look forward to than just training.
“If you’re going through hell, keep going.” -Winston Churchill
Conclusion
We all know that pain sucks. When you are experiencing it, it will be difficult in the moment. But remember that pain is temporary. More importantly, there are many benefits and positive takeaways. Focus on the good and look long-term instead.
This article is not to encourage you to look for pain. But rather to expect pain during your fitness journey, and change your perspective about it so you can reap its benefits instead of letting it consume you. The ability to endure pain is a huge predictor of success, not only in the gym, but also in life.
“Behind every beautiful thing, there’s been some kind of pain.” - Bob Dylan
