Discomfort and how being uncomfortable can be good for you. When we think of being uncomfortable we often think of physical or mental feeling of unease, irritation, or slightly annoying but not severe pain. We will often go through more exhausting avenues to avoid discomfort than we will to learn how to endure it.
Strength and endurance training, done right, can/will/should cause some pretty unbearable discomfort. Even more shocking, life as a Christian can/will/should also cause some pretty significant discomfort.
In strength training there are three different types of discomfort. It’s important that we learn to discern the difference between each of them. Muscle burn is a good discomfort. You should feel a temporary burn you in your muscles while preforming a workout. This is caused by effort and metabolic buildup. This type of discomfort goes away shortly after preforming the working set.
The other type of discomfort is delayed onset of muscle soreness; also known as second day soreness. It is usually lasts for 24 to 72 hours. This doesn’t happen every time, mostly after a new or heavier workout. There is no cause for alarm when experiencing DOMS or second day soreness.
A sharp or stabbing pain is the type of discomfort you want to protect against. This can come on suddenly. Typically it can be pinpointed to a joint, tendon, or muscle during a workout. If possible, stop workout immediately. Failure to stop can result in minor to major injuries.
The first two types of discomfort leads to or results in success. If you noticed, in the “muscle burn section,” I stated that type of discomfort is caused by effort. What we get out of something is a portion of what we put into it. Let this encourage us to give our best to everything we attempt.
One of my favorite passages in the Bible comes form James chapter 1:2-4
Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds,
for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.
And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be prefect
and complete, lacking in nothing.
We are going to face discomfort in life. There is a saying, “if you aren’t going through a trial right now, you will.” It’s inevitable but not impossible to work through. With the right training plan we will not only make it through, we will be stronger on the other side. Use discernment to assess the discomfort type. Allow yourself to grow through muscle burn, endure the second day soreness, and if we must enter the sharp stabbing discomforts of life, learn from it. Take your time to heal and recover, then get back to training. Let the lesson be used for something good.
Romans 8:28
We know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him,
who have been called according to His purpose.
In Acts 9 Jesus tells Ananias that He chose Saul to be an instrument to proclaim the name of Jesus. He goes on in verse 16 to say, “For I will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name.” As we read more about Saul, who later is renamed Paul, we see that he suffered many things even unto death. This is all for a greater good. Paul reached many lives and suffered for it. He lived his life in discomfort for Good.
After teaching my 10 year old son these things, he wanted to write a blog post for me. This is what he learned from this lesson.
“Do things you are not used to (or uncomfortable with) before you do things you are used to (comfortable with). For example, cleaning your room. Some people do NOT like cleaning their room, or doing laundry or taking out the trash. But you have to do those things because it is very important and then you will get used to it.”
After a little spelling and grammar correction, I learned a thing or two from his point of view. I hope we can all appreciate a 10 year olds perspective of discomfort and apply it to our own lives.
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