If you have ever used a personal trainer or have been in a gym you have probably heard the saying 'No pain, no gain' what they mean is 'you should feel pain'. While pain is normal and actually an indicator that you are reaching your limits, it is also a warning signal from your body saying, “Pay attention to me!”

Don’t get the wrong impression, a good workout should test you, but it should not damage or injure you. As your muscles get worked, especially to the failure point, which is the goal of working out, lactic acid in created as a by product and micro-tears in the muscle develop from the resistance training and other physiological changes occur that all result in soreness or pain in the muscles. Lactic Acid is the main culprit of pain during any workout, as you body uses energy lactic acid is a by product of this process, and the lactic acid is what causes the “Burn” that many weight lifters refer to. The “burn” felt by lactic acid can become painful if the workout is very intense and there is not enough rest time between sets for the lactic acid to be cleared. Please understand that Lactic Acid is not harmful and this type of pain is a good indicator that you are doing a good workout.

If you are working out and you experience pain in a region that you are not currently working, such as back pain, neck aches, knee joint soreness and other symptoms, you should definitely consult with your doctor. If any of the above areas start to elicit pain, you should look at your technique as it may be wrong, or you may be trying to do too much, too soon, or you may have a medical problem that should be addressed.

Be sure to start any workout routing slowly and work up to your goal. How slow you start will be different from person to person, and will depend on variables such as age, experience, prior exercise routines and overall fitness. Get your muscles warmed up and limber before really exerting yourself. Most muscle strains and muscle tears happen in the early morning when the muscles are cold and not properly warmed up, and the same is true if you workout cold without stretching or warming up. You will increase your risk for injury if you fail to warm up and stretch before during and after exercise, so be sure to develop and implement a proper warm up and cool down.

A good warm up should take a minimum of 15 minutes and include a cardiovascular exercise such as running, biking or walking to get the blood circulating to the muscles. The warm up should include some slow and gentle stretching to get the joints lubricated and muscles relaxed and lengthened. Again skipping or doing a half ass warm up is a sure fire way to getting yourself injured and putting your training on hold for a long time and in some cases permanetly.

Most people who are committed to fitness will want to really push him or herself to achieve their very best. However an attitude that results in overdoing it is very counter productive to reaching your fitness goals. Keep in mind you are trying to improve your health and overall body strength, and not trying to prove you are 'mentally tough'.

Before you start a new workout routine that involves activities or exercises that are new to you, you should get guidance from an expert. Next to not properly warming up or overdoing it, improper technique is the leading cause of injury. If you do not know how to properly use a weight machine or do a particular exercise correctly, do not be embarrassed to ask someone or search it on the internet. Just be careful were you get your information from as some people may give you bad advice same applies for websites.

Try to be consistent with your exercise and slowly progress, because one of the biggest reasons people stop working out is injuries or pain produced by working beyond their capacity. This pain or injury results in working out to no longer be fun and thus they stop doing it.

Remember in order to grow your body you must grow your mind, and obtain more knowledge.

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