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press telegram |
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No Pain, No Gain? September 2007 "No Pain, No Gain" is an expression used to get people to give it their all when exercising. From a medical viewpoint this philosophy is misguided and potentially dangerous. Pain is the body's way of warning us that something's amiss; it should not be ignored. Exercise is beneficial, but must be approached sensibly. An example of what not to do is sometimes called the "weekend warrior" syndrome. Let's use "Tom" as our weekend warrior. Tom is 53 and thirty pounds overweight, works at a stressful job and hasn't exercised in years. Looking at his sad shape in the mirror one morning, Tom determines to whip himself into shape. He starts jogging as he used to do in college. The next morning, Tom wakes up with severe muscle cramps and stiffness. He's lucky he didn't sustain far worse problems such as torn muscles, tendons or ligaments; stress fractures; or shin splints. (The American Red Cross points out in their CPR training video that folks like Tom are also more prone to heart attacks.) So, if you're like Tom and ready to get into better shape, be smart and observe three simple rules when starting an exercise program:
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