This Monday morning has inspired me to do a post on something that a lot of people are divided on. Last night I had a little back ache, nothing bad, nothing that stopped me doing anything. This morning I woke up and had an almighty pain in the lower left part of my back, I couldn't move without being in agony. I just kept thinking "what the heck has happened? Did someone break into my house and attack me with a baseball bat?". Obviously that didn't happen, but that's what it felt like. I rested over the weekend and was ready to workout today, ready to kick ass, but I couldn't. One thing popped into my mind - people online who say "no pain, no gain" and "push through the pain!". What utter garbage.If I thought 'sod it, i'll just workout, i'll just push through", I am sure I would be in the worst pain I have ever been in. It hurt to just bend down and pick something up, how do you think it would have felt if I lifted some weights??
I fully understand that wanting to shred fat or build lean muscle mass takes a lot of effort, and its not going to be comfortable, but it should not hurt. If you are in pain, that is your body telling you that something is not right and you need to stop. Pushing through pain will only make that pain worse and could cause a serious injury, which you will then be out of action for a long time, instead of resting for a day or two.
If anyone claims that working through pain is the way to go, then I'm sorry, but they are morons. Whenever you see a footballer pull up with a suspected hamstring injury, looking like he's in a bit of pain, does he just carry on? no, he gets substituted, why? because it will only get worse and then he'll be out for much longer (I know that most footballers injuries are over exaggerated, but still, they don't carry on through pain). It's called being sensible.
They're just my thoughts, but after waking up in pain, I wanted to share this.
Lee Gregory Fitness
