Fitness training doesn’t have to be painful. It doesn’t have to be long and arduous. It just has to be consistent and effective. That said, a recent article by the National Council on Strength and Fitness said, “Most Americans who work out lack an understanding of basic human physiology, causing them to forego specifically applied progressive overload.” In other words, their bodies have adapted and they are no longer challenging their muscles.

The article goes on to discuss how those you see in the gym (most - not all) always look the same yet they are lifting or running and training consistently. They are missing progressive overload! Progressive overload means that you must add weight, reps, sets, or work the muscles in a different way using a different stress.

I like to use muscle confusion for one, which is that you try not to use the same workout routine for more than two months at a time but implement different routines with different exercises. For example, I’ve been doing a lot of heavier benching, so yesterday I grabbed some dumbbells and did a finishing set of incline presses with a strict form and a lighter weight. This is because my muscles are adapting to the flat bench and it becomes harder to progress. The stimulus of a new angle and emphasizing the upper fibers of my pectorals will stimulate optimum fitness in that area.

The article also discusses the fact that it is easy to see growth and progression in the first months and even years of training, but our bodies all reach a certain point where we plateau easily. The only way to break such plateaus is through applying the progressive resistance principle. Mind you, in a future blog I will discuss the problem of overtraining, but  for today, know that you must add a half pound, do an extra rep, or add another set or finishing exercise at a new angle.

“No pain, no gain” may not be a bad motto after all. Remember, the reason your muscles have grown and changed in the first place is due to a new stress, to which it needed to adapt. You have broken down the muscle tissue slightly and actually damaged itself, and it must rebuild (also a plug here for adequate sleep and a day of rest) so don’t shy away from a little discomfort or workout “pain” while training.

A final note. The kind of pain I’m talking about here is not the kind that comes with training through an injury. Injuries must be respected and allow the body to heal. High rep, full range of motion when appropriate (at light resistance) for as long as it takes is best for healing injuries, so if your knee is bothering you it may not be wise to add an extra 10 lbs. until you’re ready. The pain to which I refer is that of the burning sensation that comes when there is lactic acid build-up in the muscles, and you are to the point of failure. At that point you have begun to really break down those muscle fibers and position yourself for physiological change.

Now have a good workout today, and go break some barriers and enter the training stress zone!