In order to step up your game, forget those painful beliefs about “manning-up” and “pushing-through.”
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I now have a rule. “No Pain, No Pain.”
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I’ve seen plenty of guys in pain. On football fields and wrestling mats as a student athletic trainer I’ve seen gruesome collisions, concussions, broken bones and sprained ankles. In the martial art studio as a kickboxing coach I’ve seen bloody noses, heard someone’s knees snap and witnessed the infamous aftershock of nasty leg kick.
Pain tightens muscle tissue, so your body in pain is basically trying to return to the fetal position.
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In the chair or table as a massage therapist I’ve seen winces of pain flash across the client’s face as they simply try to raise their arm above their head. And in the gym as a personal trainer, group instructor & movement coach, I’ve seen clients repeatedly push past their pain during a workout.
But I now have a rule. “No Pain, No Pain.” As Dr. Eric Cobb, President and Founder of Z Health, says, “Never move into pain.” In fact, Dr. Cobb has made that one of the foundational tenets of the Z Health philosophy.
Pain tightens muscle tissue, so your body in pain is basically trying to return to the fetal position.
Pain reduces performance. But most of us think pain is inevitable and something to be pushed through rather than something to be remedied. Office workers 10 hours glued to a computer will feel pain over time. Athletes all feel the pain of their sport. Competitive athletes find a way to perform in spite of pain. But the ability to endure pain is a very small factor of their performance rating. It is essential but not critical. It is their athletic ability and coach-ability and teamwork that makes them valuable; enduring a temporary pain for the pursuit of performance is simply a cost of business. For every hotshot athlete I see several “has-beens” who are all but crippled in their physical ability. but still too proud to seek help
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A self-reported study on chronic pain found that women were two and a half times more likely to have chronic pain than men. But I wonder how many men under-reported their pain or even didn’t report it at all. Men are expected, more than women, to push through the pain and they are less likely to seek help and intervention when they experience pain.
The truth is, hiding your pain, from yourself and others, is a surefire way to relinquish control of the quality of your life. You guarantee a future of pain by refusing to express it, and subsequently let it go.
You find your greatest strength when you allow yourself to be completely one with your body. One with your energy, your feelings, your sense of power and peace, and yes, even your pain.
Pain steals energy from you, especially when you try to ignore it. And the more you practice gritting your teeth and compensating for your pain, the more you end up hiding from the pain, not pushing through it.
The sooner we accept our pain, and are willing to talk about it and seek help, the sooner our minds can clear and our bodies relax.
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Discomfort isn’t pain. Apathy isn’t pain. But if you have a nagging or sudden flash of pain in your body during or after any physical endeavor and you want to recover from it, treat it, give it attention, and do your research to determine who to turn to for next steps.
Allowing unnecessary pain in your life makes it harder to perform, to accomplish, to provide and protect. It reduces your potential impact over time. You become a slave to it.
The sooner we accept our pain, and are willing to talk about it and seek help, the sooner our minds can clear and our bodies relax.
Pushing through pain on a day-to-day basis may win today’s game, but at what lifetime cost?
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Philip Penrose is also the author of 3 Things NOT To Do to Transform Your Body and Your Business