No Pain No Gain???, By: Brad Walker
The following article comes from a good friend of mine, Danny O'Dell. Danny has a Masters degree in Human Services and is certified through the National Strength and Conditioning Association as a CSCS,*D.
Danny has power-lifted competitively for 8 years and his web site, Explosively Fit, is for those who are interested in furthering their knowledge, and benefiting from his research on different aspects of the physical fitness life style.
I recommend you check out Danny's web site and make sure you subscribe to his ExplosivelyFit Training News. If you subscribe this month you'll receive a free abdominal exercise routine as an added bonus. Visit Explosively Fit and subscribe now!
Enjoy this month's article, "No Pain No Gain???" from Danny O'Dell.
How many years have we heard this refrain? The reality is this; if you have pain, you have no gain as your body has broken down in some way or the other. Pain is an alert sign that something is just not right.
The bad pain signs are ones of instant shearing, tearing, and noisy popping you 'REALLY FEEL' it kind of pain. As opposed to a muscle ache which is normal after a hard workout. Notice the subtle difference, there is no 'instant' pain associated with muscle aches.
Let me backtrack a bit and relate what is going on in the intricate system we know as our body. First off, the pain can be from various sources none of which contributes to any positive physical benefits or increased enhancements.
A brief look at what happens in an injury will quickly settle once and for all the question of whether or not pain should be used as the guide to the physical development of strength and power. Pain can be Macro traumatic meaning a specific, sudden occurrence of overload, which results in destroying the integrity of the tissue. Incidents of dislocation and subluxation of a joint, ligament damage resulting in a sprain, and muscle strains are typical injuries. Muscle strains are tears in the muscle and result from too heavy a load applied too soon.
A micro trauma on the other hand is an overuse injury. These come from repeated and unrelenting abnormal stress applied to the tissues. Improperly designed programs, training surface flaws i.e. concrete used as a landing surface for plyometrics, poor techniques and motor control utilized in the exercise movement or fatigue are but several of the contributing factors leading to an injury. These all fall under the "No Pain No Gain" mantra.
The most commonly seen overuse injury to the bone is a stress fracture. These result from an excessive training load and working out on a hard unforgiving surface, as the concrete mentioned earlier. Tendinitis is an inflamed tendon and if left uncorrected may develop into chronic tendonitis or tendinopathy.
Pure and simply put you have done too much and your body has not been able to repair the damage from the imposed overload.
So what does the body do to repair itself after an injury? The following sequence of events takes place immediately upon being injured. The first part is the Inflammation phase. You quickly feel the pain and see the swelling and redness in the affected area.
Changes in blood flow to the affected area cause the locally damaged cells to die from lack of oxygen. This in turn releases several chemicals that will once again increase the blood flow, which causes swelling. This allows the damaged cells to break out and escape into the surrounding healthy tissues. From here, they are removed via a process labelled Phagocytosis.
An increase in the amount of damaged cells and decreased collagen are normal for this stage of repair. Pain is associated with this phase and if substantial and longer lasting than 2 to 3 days in duration medical intervention may be necessary. If not the following phases may not occur, thus delaying the rehab process.
The second stage is the Repair phase. Remember, the inflammatory phase must end before this phase begins so it is essential the inflammation be under control and progressing properly in order to begin the healing process.
The repair phase begins the replacement of tissues that are no longer living. New tissue is generated, capillaries and connective tissue begins to grow and collagen fibers are randomly placed to begin the new repair. However, since the collagen fibers are not aligned in an optimal manner conductive to strength the tissue is not strong enough to support a load. This process takes place as soon as 2 days after an injury. It can continue for as long as 2 months.
The last portion of the repair process is the Remodelling phase. At this point, the tissue actually begins to gain its strength back. Collagen fiber production has been reduced significantly which allows for proper alignment of the structures collagen. They become thicker and stronger and are beginning to be aligned in the correct pattern. This phase may last up to 2 to 4 months.
It is generally during the remodelling phase that a re-injury occurs. This is due to the fact the injured area begins to feel normal again. Since it feels normal, the athlete becomes anxious to put it to the test too soon and it is re-injured. However, it is still very weak due to the fact the tissues are not fully healed. They still require further attention before a complete recovery is accomplished.
