Pain

I'm going to take a little less of your time this week since I took some time last week going off on my rant.  I got a lot of comments and positive feedback from that, so thanks guys, glad you agree.  Anyway, this week I wanted to make a couple of points about pain.  I know that CPC has gotten a sort of reputation for subjecting our subscribers but also ourselves to some pretty tough stuff, of which can be kind of painful sometimes.  There are different kinds of pain as well as some limits of pain which shouldn't be ignored.

I've worked with many people that have come in for a session and which doing a certain movement I notice them wincing.  "Whats going on with your _________?" I ask.  "Oh, I did something to it a few weeks ago, slept on it wrong maybe, it hurts but it's ok let's keep going" is the typical response.  Umm, no this isn't how it should work.  If you are experiencing pain or discomfort before during or after a workout that is something your coach needs to be aware of.  Even if it isn't at all related to a workout, you stub your toe on Tuesday and you workout on Thursday, let us know.  How we program your workouts will be different if we know you have something going on, and odds are we'll be able to help you fix it.  Don't be a donkey and ignore shit!  It's annoying for me to deal with and I know other coaches get annoyed when their clients do it to them.  It's really for your best interest, if we don't know about something and have you do something that is going to make the problem worse, then we look like the assholes.  Not appreciated!

Some of you might say "Mike but I know that some of you guys workout and do stuff when you're in pain, what about that?"  My response to that is, yes sometimes that happens.  BUT, we have a higher knowledge of the body than most of you and we can, just like we would with you, tailor our workouts to work around or help the injured area.  So get off my back when you know that my....back, has hurt for a while and I'm still working out.  I've modified my workouts and know how to manage it, and am taking steps to alleviate the problem.  Thank you very much.

Some pain is good though, that burning in your quads when I have you hold a wall sit for 3 minutes, good, the pain in your chest or burning in your lungs and taste of blood in your mouth from pushing the workout that hard, good, wincing in pain because there is a harp pain in your shoulder when you lift if over your head, BAD.

Be smart, don't be a donkey!  Full disclosure is the best policy, sometimes too much info is better than not enough.  Talk to your coach.

Smith Out!