About that Meme

"No Pain, NO Gain!

Pain, no gain: (rather say) Discomfort means progress (incremental gains)! Pain serves two sides (yin vs. yang) because it is actually an early warning system in the body and mind (brain) in that good (yin) pain warns you of potential damage while bad pain (yang) is the body telling you that you have passed beyond you health and fitness failsafe system. [learn to avoid pain]

The "no pain" means you have not passed your failsafe line thus giving you a warning to monitor your training and practice in reaching your potential. At the first sign of good (warning Will Robinson) pain you should trigger your internal awareness to decide when enough, is enough.

It is that moment one must enter the rest and recover phase that allows the mind and body to grow and improve which is how nature intended. Something to mull over for the health and wellbeing of one's future!

___________

by CEJames (arthor) & Akira Ichinose (editor/researcher)

Philosophy behind “No pain, no gain” (as a fitness meme)

At its core, “no pain, no gain” is a moral story about effort: 

the belief that valuable outcomes require discomfort (not pain), and that suffering is evidence you “paid the price.” Writers have described this as a kind of modern work-ethic / ascetic / Puritan-adjacent narrative—achievement is framed as something you earn through hardship.  

In gym culture, the meme also functions as a simple heuristic:

• If it hurts (or you’re sore), it must be working.

• If it doesn’t hurt, it must be ineffective.

That’s psychologically appealing because it turns a messy, slow process (adaptation) into a clear signal you can feel immediately. The problem is: pain is an unreliable signal.

A quick historical note: the idea (“effort brings reward”) is old, but its fitness catchphrase popularityis strongly associated with the early 1980s aerobics boom and figures like Jane Fonda (often paired with “feel the burn”).  

What it gets right (pros)

1) It pushes people out of under-training

Many beginners simply don’t challenge themselves enough to drive adaptation. The meme can help people accept that productive training includes discomfort (breathing hard, muscle “burn,” effort, and fatigue).

2) It reinforces progressive overload (in spirit)

Real progress usually requires some increase in stimulus over time (load, reps, sets, density, skill demand). Formal training guidelines emphasize progression—not random suffering, but planned increases aligned with goals and recovery.  

3) It can build grit and tolerance for effort

The slogan can be motivational, especially when it’s interpreted as:

• “Training is hard sometimes.”

• “Consistency includes uncomfortable days.”

Where it goes wrong (cons)

1) It confuses effort/discomfort with harmful pain

A major downside is that it can normalize ignoring warning signs. Many injuries begin with “manageable” pain that people train through until it becomes a real problem.

2) It overvalues soreness (DOMS) as proof of effectiveness

Delayed-onset muscle soreness (DOMS) often follows unfamiliar or eccentric work and can be influenced by novelty, volume, and intensity—but it does not reliably track hypertrophy or “quality” of training. Research specifically warns that DOMS can be a “false friend,” and studies show soreness doesn’t map cleanly onto muscle damage magnitude or progress.  

3) It can drive poor load management (stagnation, burnout, injury)

Chasing pain can push people into overreaching without adequate recovery, or rapid spikes in workload. Consensus guidance on athletic load management highlights that poor load management is a major injury risk factor and emphasizes monitoring and appropriate progression.  

Fitness culture itself has been shifting toward recovery as a performance variable, not a weakness.  

4) It can reward “hero workouts” instead of sustainable training

If your success metric becomes “how wrecked am I?”, you tend to accumulate:

• inconsistent training (big days → forced layoffs)

• technique breakdown under fatigue

• higher risk behaviors (ego loading, ignoring joint pain)

• lower long-term adherence

“Good discomfort” vs “bad pain” (a practical interpretation)

A better translation of the meme is:

“Some strain is required; injury signals are not.”

Generally productive signals

• effort/fatigue during the set

• muscle “burn” late in a set

• mild next-day tightness that resolves quickly

Red flags (treat as “stop / modify / assess”)

• sharp, stabbing, or electrical pain

• joint pain that increases as you warm up

• pain that changes movement mechanics

• pain that persists or escalates across sessions

What actually predicts progress better than pain

If you want simple yardsticks that correlate more directly with results than “how much it hurt,” use:

• Performance trend: more reps at same load, more load at same reps, better form at same work

• Planned progression: consistent, incremental overload (ACSM progression guidance)  

• Recovery trend: sleep, appetite, mood, resting soreness, readiness

• Injury trend: nagging pains staying flat or improving (not accumulating)

Fact check of the key claims above

Claim A: The phrase became prominent in fitness culture in the early 1980s (often linked to aerobics/Jane Fonda).

Verdict: Supported (cultural prominence), though exact “credit” is diffuse.

Wikipedia and mainstream reporting describe the surge in popularity tied to 1980s aerobics culture and Fonda-era messaging.  

Claim B: DOMS is not a reliable indicator of muscle growth or training quality.

Verdict: Supported.

Peer-reviewed work describes DOMS as a misleading proxy (“false friend”) and shows soreness does not reflect the magnitude of muscle damage in a simple way.  

Claim C: Progress requires progression, not “more pain.”

Verdict: Supported.

ACSM position stands emphasize structured progression models in resistance training—variables like load, volume, exercise selection, rest—not pain chasing.  

Claim D: Poor load management increases injury risk and should be monitored.

Verdict: Supported.

The IOC consensus statement highlights poor load management as a major risk factor and provides practical guidance for monitoring/training load.  

Claim E: Fitness culture has been trending toward “recovery” as a key concept vs the old “no pain, no gain” framing.

Verdict: Supported (as a media/culture observation).

A recent AP report documents this explicit cultural shift and ties it to current coaching/certification emphases. 

Bibliography (starter set)

• American College of Sports Medicine. Progression Models in Resistance Training for Healthy Adults. Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise (2009).  

• Soligard T, et al. How much is too much? (Part 1) IOC consensus statement on load in sport and risk of injury. (2016).  

• Wilke J, et al. Is “Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness” a False Friend? (2021).  

• Nosaka K, et al. Delayed-onset muscle soreness does not reflect the magnitude of eccentric exercise-induced muscle damage. (2002).  

• Associated Press. “No pain, no gain? Hardly… recovery.” (2025).  

• “No pain, no gain” (overview of proverb + modern fitness usage).