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The process of lifting weights puts strain on our bodies. Muscles need oxygen to work, but everything produces waste. The body has to circulate this waste out of the muscle cells, but obviously, when we work out hard, the body doesn’t always have time to replace it.
This buildup of acid is the “burn” you feel deep in your muscle tissue (this is called acidosis). It’s also why, when you stop forcing your muscles, the burn eventually fades as the blood circulates the lactic acid out, and the PH levels even out.
Of course, this type of pain isn’t the only one we feel when we work out. If you’ve ever done an intense workout, you know that the next day can be pure torture. Unlike the previous pain you had from the muscle “burn”, this type of pain is actually because of the tearing your muscles have experienced during your workout.
Now, let’s not panic: small tears in the muscles was actually the whole point of the exercise! It’s only by lightly tearing it that the body will trigger muscle growth. Our bodies have a way of adapting themselves to our environment, and only by putting some stress on it can we hope for improvement.
Still, I admit that the pain felt afterwords can be a little uncomfortable. You might be thinking: wouldn’t it be easier if I didn’t feel pain at all?
Why Pain Is Important
We have nerves throughout our bodies letting us know at all times how everything is going. In a way, pain is a benchmark that allows us to judge just how far we can push ourselves. There are people out there with rare conditions that don’t allow them to feel any pain at all. Typically, these people don’t live very long; without a gauge to guide them, they can hurt themselves without ever realizing it.
The “painful” truth is that we need pain to keep us in check.
The same is true for our workouts! If our bodies are sore and hurting, that’s a signal that we haven’t yet fully recovered from all the weightlifting we did the previous day. Without the pain to let us know what is going on, we would be damaging ourselves further, and not allowing enough time for the tears in our muscles to heal.
So, you have to be thankful it hurts sometimes!
Of course, you have to remember that your body needs to be challenged. You do sometimes need to push the pain barrier in order to get results. Your body will be fighting you with every last rep, but great results can only occur when we push past that barrier.
Remember that working out is a carefully monitored process of destruction (the tearing of muscles) and re-construction (the body healing and improving). In other words, if you aren’t feeling any pain, then odds are, you are not getting the muscle building results you desire.
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