Pain Is Bad. Or; Unless You're Into That Sort Of Thing.

I had an interesting conversation today with my buddy Adam, an Exercise Physiologist at the Boulder Center for Sports Medicine (BCSM).

I've recently had some athletes who have been less than tough mentally. This is frustrating for me, because they are VERY fit, and yet when a workout gets hard, or a race stops going their way, they fold like a cheap suit.

I told Adam about this, and he had some very interesting insight, gained from some elite triathlon coaches he has been working with through BCSM.

Basically, these coaches talk about something they call "Sensation." I'd heard of athletes talking about sensations before, but I always thought they meant just in general "the sensations were good." Sensation in this case, is essentially the discomfort associated with aerobic debt. As your exercise intensity increases, it doesn't really feel "good" anymore right? It isn't pain, in the sense that pain is something that is a sign of present or impending physical damage, but it doesn't feel good either.

In my eyes this distinction can be VERY helpful to athletes and coaches.
1. Pain is bad.
2. Sensation is good.

Another aspect that resonated with me was that when doing an workout or a race, you are just going to the highest level of Sensation that you can physically and mentally handle.

This is important in a workout, because essentially, the more Sensation to have, the more signal you have for adaptation. The more signal, paired with appropriate rest, the fitter you will become.

Adam also mentioned that in studies he's seen, elite athletes Associate (like, look for, embrace) with these feelings, while sub-elite athletes DIssociate (dislike, run from, avoid) them.  I wonder how much of this is cause, and how much of this is effect?