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Myth # 4: No Pain No Gain
You have to have been living under a rock to hear the no pain no gain gang bandying about that with pain there is no gain. I say nonsense! The real truth is something totally different!Firstly, I can sympathize if you're one of those people who have bought into the no pain no gain idea and thus feel as if some sort of a death sentence is about to be passed on you at the mere thought of having an exercise regime imposed on you. And you aren’t alone. I can’t tell you how many stories I’ve heard about gym contracts never, or only partially used, or for that matter, membership cards never even collected.
Does No Pain No Gain sound like fun?It sure doesn't to me!
Here’s why: There are so many awful connotations attached to the word ‘exercise’. Seriously, you’d swear that if there is no blood, sweat, tears or pain, there’s also apparently no gain.
It’s supposedly a good thing, something to brag about, if you’ve had a workout that: “nearly killed me.” And immediately in my minds-eye I can see a picture of the stereotypical, tightly toned, drill sergeant barking out orders: “Hup 2,3,4, hup 2,3,4 … c’mon – I wanna see those legs lifting high and higher… don’t stop until you feel that burrrrrrn.”
I was a COUCH POTATOEIf you’re anything like the couch potato I used to be (I was until I met my husband the marathon-running fitness man), I can really empathize with how easy it is to believe that you’re the only one busy dying in this class.Back then, it was easy to look around and notice only those gym-bunnies who unlike me didn’t look puce in the face, who seemed perfectly composed jumping up and down, breasts hardly moving in their perfectly colour-coordinated outfits. 
Meanwhile back at the ranch – I was sweating profusely, my breathing sounded as if I was in the final stages of death (and I thought I really was), my face had taken on a putrid pink flush (and this was before I was menopausal), my breasts were competing to see which is going to score a black eye first and um…. Well I think you get the picture!Here’s why I say the no pain no gain idea is a bunch of baloney. Anything that’s too painful isn’t going to last. At least it didn’t for me and ka-zillion other people I’ve worked with. Why does it have to be painful? Where did that a ridiculous notion come from? I watch these poor victims on The Biggest Loser and my heart quails for their pain. I wonder what no pain no gain stories they’ll one day tell about this experience. I wonder at: the humiliation, at the shaming game and it makes me want to run a mile. (I suppose maybe that’s what makes this TV show such a hit – anything that can get anyone to want to run a mile is achieving it’s purpose – right?) If it makes you smile.... jog a mile
To may of thinking there is something drastically wrong with this picture. Unless you’re an Olympic athlete, or professional sportsman, or out to win a prize – there simply is no need to take this whole exercise lark so seriously.Ok, ok – I know that was greeted with a cacophony of protest. I can just hear that old conditioned thinking – “What does she know about exercise? She’s definitely lost the plot.” But I know that once I stopped taking exercise so seriously - a LOT changed...and I even have some achievements I'm rather proud of. Since ending my couch potatoe status - I've not only run a full marathon (I seriously started out saying I was just going to run until I wasn't having fun... but it stayed fun until I crossed the finishing line 42.2 km's later... honestly! I got into a fun bunch who chatted and even sang the whole way) and.... I've also cycled 5 Argus Cycle Tours (105 km around the South African Cape Peninsular) and for the 6 years I studied I cycled 40 km's to classes and back ever day. I'd put all my lectures onto tape, or fabulous music, strap my books onto my bike and head out. What a fabulously active life! And think of the emissions I saved the planet! And please note that even in these pictures, well um... I'm not exactly Ms. Skinny! But I had a fabulous proportion of muscle to fat and my metabolism was fabulous as was my health. 
But there’s really a jolly good reason for saying I don't believe in the no pain no gain idea…
pain is our body's way of trying to get our attention.
In my view what we should be aiming for is: 
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