I had an interesting conversation with a client over the weekend about their progress and how they felt like they were taking it too easy during some of the boot camps.
The person with them mentioned that their mantra was always “No pain, no gain.”
It’s a fairly common phrase in our industry, but one that could not be further from the mark. I asked what they meant by ‘taking it easy’ (knowing my own interpretation) and was surprised to hear that they weren’t really sure how far to push themselves in the boot camp.
I run my boot camps fairly consistently in terms of format. Sure, we’ll constantly change the exercises, but in general, it’s an hour of exercises that are repeated twice. Once using the minute-on, minute-off system (meaning you do the exercise for a minute, and then rest for a minute before starting the next one) and the second round though is done with a minute-on and then only 30 seconds of rest. It’s good and pushes you harder during that second round.
The person talking was wondering how far they should push themselves during that initial exercise round. They wanted to leave enough gas in the tank to be able to complete the session. Now, while completing it is admirable in and of itself, the goal when exercising should always be to max out your ability to do something. There may be times for various reasons (injury, time, etc.) where maxing out is not possible, but for the most part, if you can get yourself to exhaustion during an exercise you stand a better chance to get results.
No “pain, no gain” is not something I live by. When something hurts, you need to stop. That’s when injuries happen. If you’re struggling to do something because you’re tired and your muscles are maxing out, however, that’s great! All my clients know the difference between something aching and something hurting. “It burns” is a great thing to hear. “It hurts” is not. There is a subtle difference; understanding that can often make the difference between a successful weight loss or strength program, and one that doesn’t yield results.
Let’s take something simple like bicep curls. If I can curl a 40-pound dumbbell 50 times without getting tired, great! (I also must be dreaming!) If Kyle can curl it just 20 times, but is absolutely maxed out at 18, nearly dies on 19, and somehow manages to get number 20 done, then he is going to get a far better workout than I will.
Every person’s max-point is different. Your ability to reach your own is determined by how far you can push yourself. If, like Kyle, you can only do 20 curls but it has maxed you out, there is no shame in that, and he can be proud to tell himself that he got a better workout and will see better results than me. Over time, maxing out his workload will make him bigger, and stronger, and will ultimately lead to needing more weight to continue to max out. That’s how muscles are built.
So, when you decide how far to push yourself during a workout, just ask yourself what results you really want. If it’s just increasing your heart rate and getting a decent workout in, go ahead and get your reps in at about 50-60 percent of what you could lift. If you want to see some results however, and some muscle growth, or toning, you’re going to have to lift AT LEAST 80 percent of your max, and obviously the closer you can get to 100 percent is better.
“No pain no gain” doesn’t work…but a little discomfort and ‘aching’ during a workout means that you have pushed yourself to YOUR maximum, and that is always a good thing.
Simon Date is a personal trainer and co-owner at NW Premier Fitness in Scappoose. You can reach him at 503-381-3528, info@nwpremierfitness.com [1] or facebook.com/NWPremierFitness [2] .
References
- ^ info@nwpremierfitness.com (nwpremierfitness.com)
- ^ facebook.com/NWPremierFitness (www.facebook.com)
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