Today we're going to address an important issue that many of you have questions about - pain when working out. Are you supposed to feel pain? Is it okay to work out if something hurts, or should I just wait until everything is fine? As always, exercise is a prescription. It should be tailored to your specific needs and provide a pathway towards better health. Being in pain is never the goal,
but sometimes it's part of the process. Read on to learn what I mean.
The main question: "I can feel pain in my ____ should I workout or skip the day?"
Most of you have experienced (or will) some sort of pain during a workout. Therefore, it's important to distinguish between serious concern, a nagging injury you can work around, or just plain muscle soreness. If you wake up feeling a bit off, ask yourself the following
questions:
Question 1: Where's the pain?
If it's spinal or cardiac - skip the day. Go to the doctor instead to make sure there's nothing seriously wrong. It's not worth it to mess around with your spine or heart. But just because your back hurts doesn't mean your discs are broken. Only a very small percentage of rare instances fall under this category. Regardless, watch out for these signs
of a serious issue:
Numbness or tingling
Radiating pain down limbs
Burning sensation
Shortness of breath (without exercise)
Fainting
Weird chest pains
Barring some serious issue, however, most of the pain you'll experience falls outside of this realm. For everything else, you're probably safe to get your workout in! You just might have to be a little creative to work around it.
Question 2: What does your pain feel like?
Most of you come into Results with a prior injury. That's why we always sit down and discuss any injury and exercise history. We need to know what hurts and how we can modify your workouts to keep you safe and still get results. The same applies if new issues
arise.
If you have stiff, "sticky" joints or start to feel a sharp pain during certain ranges of motion, that's a sign there's a problem. Does that automatically disqualify you from working out? Not at all. Simply stick to exercises that don't load or aggravate the affected joint further. For example, if a dumbbell overhead press bothers you, move to a
landmine press. If that still hurts, try rows. And if that doesn't bode well, stick to purely lower body movements!
Not every single workout has to be a home run. Sometimes, a nagging issue even provides a chance to work on your weaknesses. Obsess over those smaller muscles you can't see in the mirror. Work on your range of motion, or spend more time on your
core.
Fortunately, we have a team of experienced coaches who will be able to guide you. Our Red Light/Green Light system is designed for this specific purpose. Make sure to talk to your trainer before starting your session, and they'll be happy to design a plan that works for you. There's always a workaround, so a little pain shouldn't be an excuse to skip
your workout!
Question 3: What do I do about soreness?
Exercise sometimes makes you sore, and it definitely burns while you're doing it. Muscular pain and soreness are natural side effects of hard work. You don't always have to feel like you got hit by a truck the next day to get results. But some scenarios are more likely to make you sore than others. If you wake up and feel like you can barely walk,
what do you do?
Move! Active recovery increases circulation and helps replenish tired, worn-out muscles.
Let's say it's your first week, and everything hurts. All of these new exercises are leaving your muscles sorer than you've ever been. A little muscular pain is normal, even expected, when you just start out. Novel exercises challenge our bodies in completely new ways, and it takes a while for us to adapt. It's in that adaptation that we improve our
fitness and hit our goals.
If this sounds like you, communicate with your trainer. We can help you foam roll things and do our dynamic warm-up to loosen you up. If things persist, or soreness becomes unbearable, it's a sign you're slightly overtraining. We will want to look at your sleep, hydration, and nutrition to make sure you're recovering properly first. If all of that
looks great, then we can dial back the exercise.
None of those situations, however, mean you need to skip the gym! Consistency is key with progress, and doing something is always better than nothing. Come in for your session, talk to me or one of our trainers, and we'll figure out where to go from
there.
Haven't been in a while? Are you ready to start a new fitness journey? I'd be happy to talk you through any concerns before we even begin. If you've been in pain in the past, I guarantee you we're different. We'll support you every step of the way to make sure you can safely reach your goals. Hit reply or call/text 757-589-7028 to take advantage of a
free trial week! Set up a 5-minute call to learn all the details, or use a free one-on-one consultation before making a decision. Let's help you find the right service!
|
|
|