Why No Pain No Gain Fitness is Hurting Us

“No Pain, No Gain.” This has been phrase has been used by countless personal trainers and fitness experts on TV, in magazines, all over the place. And we have come to internalize this message when it comes to exercise. We have come to believe that if we aren’t exercising with such intensity, then we are “lazy”. We have come to believe that exercise is not worth doing if it isn’t hard, sweaty, and soul crushing.

You are not alone. I have spent years and years working out like this, crushing myself to move a little harder, a little faster, a little sweatier. And here’s what I have learned. This idea of “No Pain No Gain” completely misses the mark.

I do understand and value the idea behind it- which is that we have to take on things that challenge us in order to see transformation. This concept has value. However- over time, this message has been lost, and the “no pain no gain” slogan has come to mean something entirely different. In practice, what it has come to mean for most of us is that if we feel pain or resistance from within our body, that we should ignore it and push on through. 

This pain we are experiencing, this resistance that our body is giving us- this is actually very important information. You see, our body doesn’t have an easy way to communicate to us. It cannot use words. What it can do is send messages, and those messages are sent through sensations. We have a variety of different sensations, and one of them is pain. 

Pain is the way our body tells us that something is wrong. If we ignore it and push through? There will be consequences. The pain signal is a warning sign, a flashing red light. Pain is usually the body’s last resort. First, comes soreness, cramps, tightness. Then comes exhaustion and fatigue. Then, things get worse from there. If you ignore these signals, they grow stronger and louder over time. And eventually, they go from a whisper to a scream.  What comes next is injury or setback. For people with autoimmune disease, the stakes are much higher- as with each moment of pushing past the pain puts us one step closer to an autoimmune disease symptom flare-up. 

As the personal trainer and coach behind Autoimmune Strong, I have now worked with thousands of people living with autoimmune disease who want to exercise, and I have come to realize that one of the things that all of these people have in common is that they have tried this “no pain no gain” style of fitness- and it hasn’t worked for them. They have experienced multiple exercise induced symptom flare-ups, resulting in exhaustion, fatigue, setback, and flare-up. Exercise becomes so uncomfortable that they can no longer participate in exercise of any kind. The result is that it becomes easier to sit on the couch than to get up and move around. These are not the kind of results we want. 

So the next time you try to “push through” an exercise program or routine? I encourage you to ask yourself “Am I feeling like this is too much? Am I feeling discomfort and/or pain and ignoring it? Is my “ego” pushing me harder than my body wants to go?” And then, if the answer is yes? I encourage you to slow down, back off, or stop altogether. This will be difficult to do, especially for those of you who have been accustomed to pushing through for a long time. There is ego involved, and we don’t often want to do less. We want to feel capable and strong and that drives us to push harder. BUT- it’s the slowing down, the backing off that is actually the sign of a stronger more capable person… and this is what is best for you over the long run. 

Bottom line- listen to your body. Don’t ignore those pain signals. Instead, ignore the urge to push through. Be kind to your body, show it love and respect. You will get more results that way than by doing anything else.  

This is the philosophy behind Autoimmune Strong. The entire exercise program is designed to help you learn to listen to your body, to cue into the internal pain signals, and to teach you how to exercise accordingly. So, if you are ready to experience an exercise program that does not adhere to the “no pain no gain” style of fitness? It’s time to give Autoimmune Strong a try.