No pain no gain

Who hasn’t heard this a billion times? I’m sure many of you reading this have even said this phrase, or repeated it like a mantra to yourself during difficult runs or workouts. It’s such a cliche. But more importantly, is it true?

On this blog, I do my best to avoid making assumptions. I prefer using skepticism when it comes to health and fitness. No idea is beyond question. If this means overturning what is considered “wisdom” by many, due to lack of evidence, then so be it. If it means offending people, then so be it, though offending anyone isn’t the intent. This is why, for example, I almost never do any stretching exercises and do not advocate it. There is no unequivocal scientific evidence in favor of stretching when it comes to preventing injuries or improving performance. See my “You don’t have to stretch!” post for more info.

As for the “no pain no gain” idea, it really is an overly simple dictum, to the point that it’s rather difficult to evaluate in any meaningful sense. And surely, few people actually take it literally. Obviously, beyond a certain pain threshold, few of us can continue exercising.

The subjective nature of pain also renders this saying not particularly meaningful or helpful. Not to mention the fact that we all have unique biochemistries, unique fitness goals, unique history of injuries and illnesses, and unique personalities. And while challenging yourself physically is a worthwhile goal that boosts health in ways that no drug can compete with, we have to know our limits. And to a large extent, even our “limits” can be highly subjective.

Like many people, even I believe a little bit of soreness after an intense run is generally a good thing. Note the “generally”. Sometimes the amount of pain we feel can be misleading; sometimes we don’t feel any pain or soreness until the day after the heavy workout.

All this ultimately boils down to yet another cliche – “listen to your body”. Unfortunately, many of us aren’t very good listeners, and our body, as alluded to before, isn’t always the best communicator. Sure, we know when we feel too exhuasted to go on, but we don’t often deal with extreme exhaustion after exercise; there’s a large grey area, and little objective criteria with which to make proper assessments. There’s a “little” pain, and “too much” pain on opposite sides of a pain continuum with so much grey area in between. This is one of the reasons I don’t use caffeine or other drugs – they cloud our judgement to the degree that they can make it almost impossible to listen to our body’s with any accuracy.

Knowing our Vo2 Max can be helpful to some degree, but it isn’t all that accurate and there are many other measurements. There’s also the “talk test” – if you can’t hold a conversation while doing intense cardio, you “may” be pushing yourself too hard.

So what can we do? Perhaps a more reliable “test” is to pay attention to our heart rate. If it isn’t back to normal after even intense exercise, this is usually a good indicator you are overdoing it. Or you are out of shape. Being fit means your body and your heart should have adapted to your fitness program. If it still beats fast well after(an hour or more) working out on a consistent basis, this may be a useful warning sign.

Besides this, avoid working out if you are in any kind of pain beyond minor soreness. If your legs hurt, exercise your arms and vice versa. Try to avoid becoming addicted to exercise and don’t try pushing yourself to your limits every time you exercise. Do this maybe once a week or a few times a month. Question every bit of fitness advice you receive and go ahead and make your fitness routine uniquely you; don’t try to be someone else, just because your friend benefitted from some new fitness program, doesn’t mean you will too. It seems everyone is an “expert” when it comes to fitness. Be careful who you get advice from, consider their credentials and experience. Unfortunately, even some people with multiple degrees and certification will spout pseudo-science.

So while “no pain, no gain” may have some truth to it, don’t take it as a commandment. It may even be harmful to follow it too literally. Whatever the case may be, now that it is spring, take advantage of the outside weather and get back into shape! You don’t need a gym membership. A park or the woods is way better.

Stick to outdoor exercise to stay in shape

As much as I love staying in shape, I have little use for gyms. In fact, I have never been a member of a gym. I am even trying to think of the last time I set foot in one with a friend or relative who was a member. I can’t remember.

While gyms can be useful for some people, especially if you need a lot of help and encouragement from a qualified fitness trainer, or like to accurately keep track of how you’re doing with machines, my idea of fitness has always been about outdoor adventure. Very long hikes, running through the woods, climbing steep hills or trees is my idea of fitness. I just don’t think I would be as fit if I were to use treadmills or most other fitness machines.

Without the fresh air, the sun, the elements, the mud, the animals, the unexpected, it just doesn’t feel right to me. Hence, the “wild” in “Wild Juggler”. One of the main purposes of this site is to encourage people to get fit by going into the wild. I hope my blog has been a valuable resource in this regard. Another excellent resource on outdoor fitness is the Outsidehealthandfitness site, run by Steve Stearns. When it comes to outdoor fitness, he does it all!

Whether it is hiking, cycling, skiing, or trail running, his site has some great advice for newbies and seasoned outdoor athletes. His approach to fitness is so similar to my own, though it doesn’t emphasize juggling(it doesn’t exclude it either). I highly recommend his site. He often does product reviews and has an interesting podcast.

It may not just be me, or Steve Stearns, who think outdoor exercise is better; science itself has shown some preliminary support for this idea. According to PenCLAHRC, Peninsula College of Medicine and Dentistry, University of Exeter, in the study Does participating in physical activity in outdoor natural environments have a greater effect on physical and mental wellbeing than physical activity indoors? A systematic review:

This review has shown some promising effects on self-reported mental wellbeing immediately following exercise in nature which are not seen following the same exercise indoors.

This is so not surprising to me. So when in doubt, get out! You don’t need a gym membership to stay in shape. And if you don’t have a park or woods near you, go out anyway, practice Parkour if you can.

If you are in the northern northern hemisphere, the weather is no longer an excuse(not that it ever was a good excuse).

Protecting your eyes from the sun

With the sun’s rays getting stronger and the days getting longer and warmer, the outdoors are calling out your name and telling you to come out and play. I believe that outdoor exercise is generally more beneficial than indoor, so this is a good thing.

However, one of the biggest downsides to outdoor exercise is the damaging effects of sunlight on the skin and eyes. Lack of proper eye protection can lead to permanent eye damage in the long-term, besides hindering athletic performance in the short-term. Luckily, all you need is a good pair of sunglasses to protect your eyes – with all the choices out there, choosing the right one can be difficult.

Here are some tips to help you choose the right glasses to maximize eye protection:

1) Make sure they cover up enough of your eyes. Very small circle sunglasses may look “hip” to some people, but they don’t block enough sunlight from the side or the top. Wrap-around sunglasses are your best choice, since they block sunlight from all directions.

2) Make sure they provide enough darkening for very bright sunlight. Polarized glasses may be better for reducing glare and seeing things in water when the sun is out, but they are not absolutely necessary. Brown-orange lenses are probably the best color, along with brown-red, and brown-yellow. Grayish lenses are good as well. Pure red, green, or blue lenses aren’t a good idea since they can distort your vision.

3) Make sure they provide 100% UV light protection. This is different from how dark the lenses make your vision. Even some dark lens sunglasses can provide poor UV protection while some lighter ones provide 100% UV protection. UV light can damage your eyes over time, leading to macular degeneration and other serious problems.

How can you tell if your sunglasses provide 100% UV protection? One important thing to keep in mind is that price is no guarantee of UV protection. I’ve tested very expensive sunglasses and realized they provided little UV protection(even though the labels claimed they provided 100%), while some relatively cheap ones($8 to $25 U.S dollars) provided 100% UV protection.

How could I tell? There is a relatively simple trick you can do if you have access to a UV flashlight. There are some inexpensive UV flashlights available online if you are really interested in testing your sunglasses. Or borrow one if you can(do not beam it into your eyes). Here is what you do:

Go into a dark room with the UV flashlight, the sunglasses, and with paper money and/or a credit card. Turn on the UV light and beam it on the paper money. You should notice all these mysterious symbols on the money(usually a line) or credit card(usually letters) you normally wouldn’t see in ordinary light. These are watermarks used by banks and government officials to detect counterfeit money – these lines and/or symbols are only noticeable in UV light. Don’t worry, you are not doing anything illegal!

Now take the sunglasses you wish to test, and beam the UV light through one of its lenses and onto the money or credit card.

– If you still see the symbols on the money or credit card, your glasses do not provide 100% UV protection(the lenses are letting through the UV light and revealing the symbols).

– If you do not see the symbols, your glasses have passed the test and do provide 100% UV protection – the lens blocks the UV, hence you can’t see the symbols.

I’ve done this test many many times over the years, and discovered that many expensive sunglasses belonging to friends and family(so disappointed!) do not provide 100% UV protection while some inexpensive ones did provide 100% UV protection. Granted, many expensive ones do provide 100% UV protection, and some cheap ones do not, but do not let price be your guide. And unfortunately, there is little regulation of sunglasses and labelling can be dishonest.

If the glasses fail the test, make sure you return them and get a refund as quickly as possible. If it’s at all possible, see if you can even test sunglasses at the store.

Now get out and enjoy the early spring!