You can get gains WITHOUT pain

Every time I hear it, it makes me cringe a little. Don’t get me wrong, I used to be all up in the “no pain, no gain” mindset, but things have changed.

The other day I was training and someone asked me if I was trying to bulk up.

I am not actively trying to do so, but I couldn’t resist a little ego boost

“Why…do I look bigger?”

Apparently I did!

I have made some chest and shoulder gains in the last 6 months that I had written off as impossible. It’s literally the most stupid, basic, and simple thing:

When I got out of pain, I could push myself harder.

When I selected movements that I could push without risk of injury (or significantly low risk) I could push to failure more often.

When I pushed to failure, more often, without pain, without risk of injury…surprise!…I made more gains.

So when I hear about people “managing their pain” or “working through it” or whatever phrasing is used — it makes my stomach twist a bit. I remember that. I did that. And it’s so needless to the point of being counterproductive.

The moment I took a step back to FIX my stuff, that was my launching point for even better workouts! Imagine that!

Further, this works even if you aren’t in pain, even if you aren’t injured.

Check out this article from back in ‘99

The summary? Yea, these guys were making crazy gains on their bench presses WITHOUT BENCH PRESSING. The shoring up of weak links simply boosted their system’s ability to produce force — no additional bench pressing needed.

So if you are stuck in a rut, can’t bust a plateau or feel like that “shoulder thing” will never go away, it’s probably time to get yourself situation with some pain free training to break on through to the next level!