I had always loved the pain the next day. It encouraged me. It was a reminder that I did something challenging enough to clearly affect my body. It made me feel like everything was noticeably tighter and the workout was clearly doing its job. Eventually the pain stopped being as apparent after all my workouts and even some days I felt nothing regardless of how hard I thought I pushed myself. For a long time, I believed this meant I was fooling myself into thinking I was having good workouts. It meant that all the hard work I had put in the day before was actually a low effort and delusional attempt.
I started to push harder. Everyday, I would train longer, heavier and give it all the energy I could physically muster. I wanted that reassuring pain back. I was sacrificing form and exhausting myself. I still felt proud when I got it back. I also felt tired constantly. Every other part of my life suffered. I had no energy, no focus, no time and barely any noticeable gains. The complete opposite of how regular exercise is supposed to benefit your life.
Learning to chase a result rather than the pain. I know often we hear personal trainers or gym bros brag about the pain they’re in the next day or how they went so hard they threw up and we think that must be the only way to gauge a successful workout. NO! Of course not, workouts are supposed to make you feel good. If you can’t move after a workout, that’s too much. If you feel energised after a workout, that is a success. If you are no longer feeling pain the next day, it’s because that incredible body of yours has adapted to the new movements it had never encountered before and is now stronger and able to adapt those movements into everyday life. Every workout should have the aim of improving your ability in strength and functionality in life. If you are always too sore from the day before, how in the hell is all that strength training and cardio going to be useful? Don’t focus on pain. Focus only on consistency, form and challenging yourself regularly. If you have one of those, extra adrenaline workouts where you surpass your usual standards and feel a little pain the next day, that’s great but forcing yourself to do that everyday will only lead to wipe out.
The need to kill yourself in the gym to hurt or beat yourself up for not going harder is gone. This way of thinking will not continue to slow down your progress. You can develop a healthier mindset with exercise and remain proud of all the hard work you put in. Every time you switch up your routine, pain is likely to occur. Your body is facing new challenges but when the pain wears off, it is only a sign of success in the gym. Your body is now more powerful and able to do more without being hurt. Surely, this is the best and healthiest way to track progress.
Just remember, the goal is to get better, not sore.
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