4: No Pain No Gain

AWAKEN THE WARRIOR IN YOU WITH EDISON HO

When it comes to “no pain, no gain,” you might think “siao ah,” meaning crazy. Why would I want to go gym and torture myself? Who the hell will go to the gym and do something that feels painful? And then you saw those motivational speeches or videos of how others trained; you suddenly felt motivated but had the mental block to push yourself to that pain level where many call it “suffering.”

I do feel the same way sometimes. I love training so much and I am a coach myself, I should be able to push myself, but I am human too. Sometimes, I am afraid of the pain too, I will lose motivation or inspiration to push myself. And then I will find ways to spark that fire in me again. I know deep inside me, I would love to do it, I just need the spark.

Pain doesn’t mean the pain we feel when we cut ourselves or the pain we got from falling. The pain is a mental challenge. The challenge of pushing one more rep, one more set, or you can say pushing through that, you call it the “sour feeling.” the (Lactic acid-forming) inside your muscle.

Meaning your muscle is lacking oxygen, and it is very normal during muscle fatigue. It will usually result in muscle soreness and cramps. But you know when you start feeling that, your muscles will only grow.

If you decide to do it, you do your best. Why would you want to go to the gym and do half-fu*k? You will be wasting your own time. The next time you need that mental push, I’ve three pieces of advice for you.

Advice 1. Find a buddy that has a high discipline and knows what he is doing to push you. You definitely want someone who knows what he is doing and knows how to work out in order to push you that extra rep. The last thing you want is your best buddy or spotter to injure you and you never want to come back to the gym anymore.

I had a very bad experience with a spotter just two years ago. I want to do a 55kgs dumbbell chest press on a bench, and all my colleague was engaged with their clients, I know I won't be able to push that alone, so I went to the front desk and ask this big size guy who did some carry himself to spot me, spot meaning standing behind me and support me by gripping my wrist or putting his hand under my arms, just in case I couldn’t push, he could give me a hand.

And that was when the accident happened, true enough, I couldn't push the weight when I reached the 3 reps and he didn't push me on time, so I had a partial tear right chest muscle, and luckily I was quick enough and did a safe landing, the dumbbell didn't hit my face.

So, I asked him why he didn’t support me well, and he replied, “I thought you could.” Just because of his inexperience, I almost lost my job and am not able to lift anymore.

Advice 2. Play a piece of a song that you will be highly motivated for, and try to push it. *(With the proper form, of course.) You might think, how can music help with the workout? ​​Studies have shown that faster-paced music tends to help improve athletic performance when a person engages in low-to-moderate level exercise, either by increasing distance traveled, pace, or repetitions completed.

For example, a 2006 study that looked at the effect of music on the selection of treadmill speed found that while listening to fast-paced music, participants increased their pace and distance traveled without becoming more tired. Other studies drew similar conclusions, suggesting that listening to music with more beats per minute can enhance physical performance during low-to-moderate level exercise.

I have had experience in some gyms allowing the trainers to play their own playlist and someone played some oldies and slow songs, not lying, someone actually loves it but that will never help to push you for another repetition or set because the beat won’t help to motivate you.

Advice 3. The most traditional and safest way is to hire a coach. With the extra push, you will make a big difference from how you think you can turn out to be. I've gone through competition, and I had a coach to push me. I was at the next level than I had ever been in my life.

I can totally understand, it is hard to invest that amount of money to hire a coach. Coaches, Trainers, Teachers, they are all expensive, why? Because they have put their life with all they do the best for many years, they invested a lot on courses to enhance their skills, in order to coach, they trade their time to coach you and teach you. They hold the responsibility to make sure you succeed.

There are also coaches outside that are affordable. They are newly certified and willing to take any clients. If you have a budget, you can always hire them to learn the basics first before you upgrade to elite trainers.

So, if you have been thinking to transform but have been procrastinating, meaning, you need someone to push your ass hard. Usually, this type of pushing yourself to leave your comfort zone is the pain that we are talking about. The pain is when you are willing to do something you are uncomfortable about, then you will grow!

Whatever that I had mentioned, those are based on my experience and what I've seen throughout my coaching years. Those will bring you pain but they will definitely bring you to the next level.

Now, the conclusion is, whatever you do in life, regardless outside the gym or in the gym, there is nothing comes to great when we don’t put in the effort. And effort usually comes with “pain”, no pain, no gain. I want to challenge you, try one thing this month, one thing you know if you step out of the comfort zone and feel that “pain” you know, you will be better than who you are now.

I hope my two cents of advice help you on your fitness journey. Good luck!