How do you feel about pain?

[SteelWeaver]

Weight training inevitably means you're going to feel some pain at some point. Maybe a lot of pain. We often talk/hear about pushing through the pain, whether it be psychological (diet-induced), or physical (induced by training).

There's also the notion that different people experience pain differently. And some are able to endure pain for longer than others.

I have some questions about this. Are the people who are able to endure pain for longer likely to be the better athletes?

Is pushing beyond pain thresholds a necessary part of improvement in weight training?

Are bb'ers somehow addicted to pain - or the endorphins released by pain?

Anyone here actually ENJOY the pain???

 

[The Shadow]

...pain ain't nuttin but French bread.....

 

[spiderwoman]

"sweat, pain, agony... love it!"

haven't you ever seen that tee-shirt?

 

[VeggieLifterChick]

The t-shirt my team got during field hockey season one year said, "Pain is for the moment, Pride is Forever." You needed to keep that sort of thing in mind during sprints.

 

[makedah]

Hmm. I reserve the term "pain" for the sharp "I hurt myself!" warning signal. I don't know if that is what you're talking about here. But I don't push through that. I do, however, find ways to train that won't aggravate the tender spot (like my shoulder or my low back) so much.

I certainly push through the "discomfort" that accompanies exercising. Sometimes it feels good, sometimes it's a bear and I'm just sticking it out for the results. When I was running, I was guaranteed that the first mile would be miserable, but I knew that it would get better in a few minutes and the promise of a "runner's high" kept me coming back.

My first week of WSB, I was SO sore. My god. I'd never been so sore in my whole life. Instead of just getting sore the next day, I could get sore by nightfall if I sat at my desk all day after training in the morning. I got up once after watching a movie and my friend laughed as I hobbled up the aisle like an arthritic old woman. If one could die from DOMS, I would have been in the ICU. I swear, until then, I didn't know I needed my obliques to sleep at night! It hurt, but at the same time, it felt good psychologically to know that I was shaking things up for the old bod.

 

[BuffChick77]

I believe some of us enjoy the pain (sometimes a little to much). I know i'm one of them - but then again, i'm a freak. lol
On leg night once, training with a friend of mine, we were sort of just "going threw the motions" - at least that's how it felt. I remember thinking to myself "I could have pushed a little harder". Until the next morning, I couldn't't get down the stairs unless I held on to the railing!!! OMFG was I in pain!!! Don't get me wrong, my morbid mind enjoyed every min of it, and for the next week I walked like i had some un-natural object up my rear it hurt so bad. I haven't done that since...

 

[Gladiola]

ME! ME! I like pain!

I actually enjoy being spanked, flogged, riding crops are cool. Like being bitten too. Yes, I own stripper shoes & black vinyl clothes - I'm into BDSM.

"Is pushing beyond pain thresholds a necessary part of improvement in weight training?"
Well, yes in terms of the lactic acid burn, that can hurt pretty terribly sometimes, so SOME pain is HEALTHY & must be pushed through.

On the other hand, pain indicative of a PROBLEM, or damage to a joint is not healthy & needs attention, not "pushing through". Where the line is between healthy & unhealthy pain, I've NO IDEA! & you get a different answer with everyone you ask, witness my experience with weightlifting coach saying, "Ignore it", PT friend saying "Adapt - don't squat so low, rehab, ice, etc." & orthopedist saying, "STOP! Do nothing."

"Are the people who are able to endure pain for longer likely to be the better athletes?"
I don't know, but I DO know that if an athlete ignores pain for too long & doesn't train SMART - they will not be an athlete for long! - Witness my former coach who doesn't compete in weightlifting any longer despite a young age of 38 - b/c of 3 reconstructive knee surgeries - caused by overtraining & not training smart.

 

[JLo]

Anyone here actually ENJOY the pain???

Lifting and sexual pain I DO enjoy....

Toothaches I don't....

If I'm not sore and in pain the day after lifting, I'm pissed. I wanna feel like I did something. My measurement is pain, whether it's an accurate measurement or not.

 

[grlpwrd]

I liken exercise pain to childbirth...I don't like the process and experience of pain, but the outcome is worth it.

 

[The Shadow]

Re: Re: How do you feel about pain?

Lifting and sexual pain I DO enjoy....

Toothaches I don't....

LOL

 

[Gladiola]

I understand that sometimes pain can bring on an effect that is desireable. In this case, it's not pain you like, it's endorphins.

Not just endorphins, but the emotional release. I've heard plenty of BDSM-ers say it's "cathartic". It is cleansing, a release.

It IS definitely pain though.... I've seen enough wincing, crying, screaming, pleading, and INFLICTED enough myself at Dungeon parties to know that it is true pain.

And it is consensual, it is sometimes dreaded, but enjoyed, but it is still pain.

 

[Japanese machine]

I love soreness. Pain is sucky!

 

[VeggieLifterChick]

"We often talk/hear about pushing through the pain, whether it be psychological (diet-induced), or physical (induced by training).

I have some questions about this. Are the people who are able to endure pain for longer likely to be the better athletes?"

If you are talking about psychological pain, then yes I do think those who are disciplined enough to stand the deprivation/anguish that comes with dieting are going to end up more successful in bodybuilding than those who aren't. In that sense they are likely to be the better athletes.

But I can't relate to this idea of physical pain in relation to weight lifting - the burn of muscle failure isn't what I'd call pain. Nor is soreness, even intense soreness, pain. It could be called discomfort, but even then sometimes it feels kind of good. Especially when you stretch...ahhh.....

 

[Hannibal]

Not just endorphins, but the emotional release. I've heard plenty of BDSM-ers say it's "cathartic". It is cleansing, a release.

A theory in need of more testing....

 

[Puddles]

Not all pain is equal...

A headache is never an enjoyable pain.

Pain while lifting and that initial pain during anal sex are enjoyable. You know it will end and the results are worth every bit of it. I look forward to those painful times!

I love to watch my husband's face when he's lifting and pushing through the pain. It just pleases me.

Childbirth pain...I had the joy of 18 hrs. of induced labor with no meds until the last 15 minutes when I opted for an eppidural which made me dialate from 2 cm to finish in minutes. I didn't make a sound during the whole thing (except for when they brought my husband his breakfast and it was lookin good but the wouldn't let me eat)...I kept focussed on each contraction and looked forward to bringing my daughter into the world.

 

[SteelWeaver]

Thanks for the replies.

"Not all pain is equal ..." Yeah, I guess there are different kinds of pain, and different levels, and different endurance abilities for different types of pain. What would we call, for example, intense lactic acid burn, like what you get when you, say, go to failure at about 12 reps on hack squats, pausing for a full 3 seconds and contracting the quads hard at the top and bottom, then squeezing out 6 or so forced reps of the same sort after that? I did that last week, and by the end of the set I was close to tears, but 30 seconds later I felt like a million bucks. (OK, maybe a few minutes later, lol) That was the most intense set I've ever done in my life - except maybe for a set of squats I did one time that actually DID make me cry. But that was pre-contest, so it's different. Why would that not necessarily count as pain?

It's a different type of pain from the type that slams you flat on your back and you can't move or breathe for days, or the type where you, say, have a nasty blister that the band-aid has melted into and you have to carry on hiking on it for hours and hours, gritting your teeth hard at every step.

But it still hurts.

For me, it doesn't come anywhere near the discomfort of dieting, though. But that's not really "pain", unless you're severely restricting calories.

Is pain just all in the mind? Do some people have a natural propensity to be able to separate and isolate pain from themselves? Or is it just something that comes with practice?

 

[MS]

Pain is all of the above. It is what's socially acceptable (don't cry, don't scream, don't be a baby), it's a short term sacrifice for long term benefit (why else would ANYONE get up and go to work day after day, or make themselves sore routinely, or stick to a contest diet???). It's neurochemical (women feel a lot more pain premenstrually and release fewer endorphins at this time, they feel less pain and produce more endorphins during childbirth). It is age and experience related, and genetics also plays a large part of how you respond to different sorts of pain. The part of the brain devoted to pain perception is apparently identical to pleasure perception ("there's a fine line between pleasure and pain") and the main difference seems to be "context". So if you concentrate REALLY hard, you can theoretically turn any kind of pain into pleasure......even deep bone pain associated with traumatic fractures! This is not necessarily a good thing for hopefully obvious reasons.

 

[Puddles]

Sometimes your mind can overcome pain. I don't understand it, but I have experienced it...

Yesterday I was on my 10th rep and hurting bad, my face contorted in agony, but I wanted to get to 12. I paused for maybe 3 or 4 seconds, breathed, went into my head and concentrated on NOTHING but my breathing and body movements, the pain was gone and I pushed out 4 more...I just continued until my muscles simply couldn't do it again but I wasn't in pain. As I put the weights down, the pain began to hit me but of course it only lasted a few seconds.

Another time my daughter and I were at the beach. She was maybe 4 y.o. and I was laying down in the sun watching her at the water's edge. She fell into the water and I freaked, I jumped up and ran towards her, not looking where I was going, stumbled in a hole in the sand, twisted my ankle and went down. I got right back up and kept running to my daughter because I thought she was in need of help. She was fine but a few seconds after I reached her, my ankle was killing me. I had sprained it but didn't know it or FEEL it until after I knew that she was safe. Afterwards, it amazed me that I had been able to keep running after the fall because my ankle looked like a small grapefruit but I didn't feel the pain until I knew she was ok. Why didn't I FEEL the pain then?

 

[FitFossil]

As long as it's not injury-type pain, I love it (muscle soreness, deep-tissue massage, giving my all on a heavy lift, etc.)

 

[Kali]

I love self induced pain. Pain that I am not meaning to inflict can be pretty bad. I just always go by the same quote though, that I got in bootcamp. "Pain is weakness leaving the body"

 

[makedah]

Afterwards, it amazed me that I had been able to keep running after the fall because my ankle looked like a small grapefruit but I didn't feel the pain until I knew she was ok. Why didn't I FEEL the pain then?

Adrenaline. "Fight or flight" response and all that business.