No pain, no gain was a
very prevalent attitude when I began coaching in the late Sixties, surprisingly
it continues to persist today in certain circles. I have never been able to
figure out the appeal of this approach. Proper training in the weight room or
on the field demands that the athlete be pushed to test their limits at various
times in training. Some workouts are very difficult and other workouts will
almost seem easy. This ebb and flow of hard efforts interspersed with easier
efforts is essential allow for proper adaptation. The no pain, no gain approach
is a direct outgrowth of the fact that historically Strength & Conditioning
was a field driven by football. It was the football strength & conditioning
coach who set the tempo for the programs because they were often the head
strength coach. The mastodon mentality that pervaded football in the fifties
and the sixties served to reinforce the no pain, no gain approach. In those
days players were not allowed to take their helmets off during practice and not
allowed to drink during practice. The more it hurt, the more pain the better. The
whole goal was to make the players tough, so without pain there was no gain! So
they thought.
I know this approach
does not work; it makes you tired but not better. It is totally Darwinian only the
strong survive, and no one thrives. I do not know about you, but I want my
players ready on game day. That should be the goal of training.To achieve that, the training load and intensity must
vary. A thoroughly conditioned athlete who
is supremely confident in his or her physical preparation will be mentally and
physically tough. Physically and psychologically an athlete can only go to the
well so many times before it will begin to deplete their reserves both
physically and psychologically. There is no doubt in my mind that a good sport
coach or a strength and conditioning coach can get athletes to train and
perform beyond levels that the athletes ever thought possible. To achieve this
does not mean you have to inflict pain. Pushing the envelope is uncomfortable.
Athletes in training learn over time to get comfortable with a certain level of discomfort
through gradual adaptation to stress. Train your athletes to thrive in the
competitive arena by training intelligently.