Masochism Revisited

Last night, I was sitting on the sofa and watching American Idol for the first time this season. As I grabbed for the remote, I realized I had to pull myself with all my strength since sudden movements were painful. My body was aching and sore all over. The pain I was feeling good be classified as self-inflicted, since I have been working out at high intensity for the last few days under the guidance of a good friend and fitness trainer, who I have known since my days as an undergraduate.

"Eisha, you are going to be one of those 70-year old grandmas that runs after her grandchildren. Not a grandma that sits on the bench," she said during our Abs and Back class. As she said this, I held back my laughter as I struggled to get breaths in between each crunch during a four circuit of ab exercises that made my stomach burn. We still had 100 crunches to go.

My trainer and I go way back; I have been taking her classes and she has taught me how to teach fitness classes, including how to cue workouts. She has been my good friend and my inspiration to stay physically active (one look at her tanned sculpted body and you'll know why she is famous body-builder and fitness extraordinare with a contagious passion for teaching and fitness).

After three days of attending her classes, which have included interval/toning (directed bicep work-out), three ab/back conditioning routines, one butt-kicking kickboxing session and one free-weight session (a focused chest workout for the "wonder twins"), I am feeling as sore as ever.

Don't get me wrong, I am no couch potato. In fact, I manage to get into the gym or run outdoors most days of the week. But since starting medical school I do not have the luxury of the 2-3 hours for workouts I had as an undergraduate. I have been mastering the fine art of fitting in 1-1.5 hour workouts in my day (usually in the evening) wherever there is time.

Right now, my muscles are tight, I have to waddle to get around the house and I stumble up the stairs. And despite the pain, I still keep going back. Why is that we willingly subject ourselves to pain?

Does training our bodies through rigorous exercise add up to a form of masochism?

To be exact, masochism can mean any one of the following (definitions from dictionary.com):

1.Psychiatry. the condition in which sexual gratification depends on suffering, physical pain, and humiliation.
2.gratification gained from pain, deprivation, degradation, etc., inflicted or imposed on oneself, either as a result of one's own actions or the actions of others, esp. the tendency to seek this form of gratification.
3.the act of turning one's destructive tendencies inward or upon oneself.
4.the tendency to find pleasure in self-denial, submissiveness, etc.

I think we can relate Definition 2 to my case. I wonder why I have not felt this sore before when I workout on my own. And there is one simple reason: I can not push myself to the level of sensing pain; it's just too difficult, knowing that I have to live with the physical implications (mostly soreness and limited mobility) that comes with an extra 10 bench presses or running another 2 miles or doing another 50 push-ups.

We must be wired to avoid masochism, even in the most mildest forms (intense exercise). I do have my moments of pushing my boundaries, but I usually like to limit the pain.

Having a trainer solves all the problems that come with thinking through our actions; we have someone who can tell us what to do, encourage us and push us through the limitations when place on ourselves. In doing so, we develop strength and redefine our pain threshold (at least that is the goal).

I guess it goes with out saying in the athletic world: "no pain, no gain." I have really begun to wonder if the individual who coined this phrase, was him/herself a masochist, simply spreading his ideology in a terse statement to weed out the emotional response to stress. Who knows?

And how about the saying, "what doesn't kill you makes you stronger." Let's leave analysis of this quote for a future discussion...

I just know I am sore and tired, but will return tomorrow bright and early (8 AM) to get my but kicked in kickboxing. Does that make a masochist? Maybe it does, but at least I'll have a fantastic workout.