No Pain No Gain
No pain, no gain.
This sentence is on the All Star team for dumbest sayings about exercise. It's up for MVP.
It implies that to see progress you need to feel pain. That it’s inevitable.
It started in 1982 with Jane Fonda. She would say things like “no pain, no pain” and “feel the burn”. It’s led to some people thinking that we need to push past muscle fatigue and that delayed onset muscle soreness is the sign of an effective workout.
It’s been frequently mentioned in high level sports and athletics.
And it’s seeped into everyday life and gym culture.
And it’s false.
To see progress in your training in the gym, pain is not needed. Sure you want to challenge yourself. That is important. But there is a big difference between challenging and painful.
