Fear is the mind killer
How understanding pain can help with strength training
Pain is an anticipatory response: it is a predictive mechanism that alerts us to the possibility of tissue damage. It all happens faster than we can consciously perceive, but it is a protective mechanism intended to prevent us from getting injured.
But sometimes that mechanism gets out of sync with what’s happening in our bodies - triggered by a myriad of other factors (stress, fear, anxiety, history of injury) - and trips the pain response when there is, in fact, no actual tissue damage or risk of tissue damage. This is what is sometimes called non-specified pain.
In fact, pretty much everyone is going to experience non-specified pain at some point in their lives - statistically over 80% of people will experience low back pain in their lives, and most of it is non-specified.
What does this mean, and what does it have to do with fear?
Recent studies have shown that the effectiveness of medical interventions regarding common joint pains and injuries (such as rotator cuff, knee, and back) are directly influenced by the patient’s belief in the effectiveness of said intervention.
Simply said: if they believe it’s going to work, it will work.
What can we do with that?
Obviously it’s not as easy as some Peter Pan “believe and you can fly” type thing. There has to be a buy-in - something that takes it from “I want to believe” to “it’s happening.”
A term coined by pain scientist Greg Lehman, Movement Optimism, provides insight into how to elicit this response: creating opportunities for patients to self-regulate (aka modify movements, adjust load and volume to their level of safety) creates a form of nurtured resilience (thanks Brandon Chien) that allows them to feel stronger and more confident when moving.
Exercise is a form of graded exposure that allows the mover to gradually increase the intensity, volume, and load of what they’re doing - it is a process of “trying out” in controlled circumstances that helps build the Movement Optimism that many people need to get out of pain.
How can we apply this to getting stronger?
At the core of getting stronger is the central belief that we can, in fact, do the thing we’re trying to do.
Strength is a developed skill, and it takes practice. What form that practice takes depends heavily on:
Your goal: the thing you’re trying to do - lift a heavy bar, climb something, jump over something, do a handstand, etc.
Your experience with said goal: how familiar with it are you? Is it a brand new pursuit? A lifelong hobby? Your training age determines much of how you approach the action.
How much time you want to contribute to the pursuit of the goal: do you have a deadline? Want to play with it for the rest of your life? Also how much time do you want to devote to the practicing of this skill per day? Week? Month?
For getting out of pain the plan usually boils down to 1. It takes as long as it takes and 2. Find and know your limits, and do as much as you can within them - that means intensity, volume, and frequency. Once people learn and accept those facts, the path to feeling better is (usually) more streamlined and clear. And, of course, at the center of that is validation of pain and having a clear idea of what is happening - even if it isn’t tissue damage.
Strength is much the same: as soon as you accept that it’s going to take as long as it takes, and that you must find and know your limits and train within them, the process is much more simple.
Strength training operates on the same principles as pain recovery: manage intensity, volume, and frequency to do as much as you can within your limits. The major difference is in the goal - with pain management and recovery, you’re trying to do enough (or rest enough) to reduce your pain. With strength training, the goal is to increase capacity.
Actually, the goal in both cases is to increase capacity, but framing the two as I did above creates a more clear boundary for understanding. But just think of it as an extension of the same process, and it works the same.
Just do a little more, but not so much that you feel like shit. It’s a process that takes some time and consideration to really understand, but the investment is worth it.
At the heart of both is habituation: the process of conditioning the body to a frequent stimulus. It’s all just practice. Time spent engaging in a practice familiarizes us with it, and makes it less intimidating.
I’ll end with the full quote from Frank Herbert’s Dune:
“I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain.”