While it’s good to feel the burn, it’s not so good to feel a sharp twinge or pop

RAPID CITY, S.D. (KEVN) - It’s recommended to get 30 minutes of exercise a day, or 150 minutes per week.

Sometimes, busy schedules or a lack of motivation can make it hard to get that time in.

Injuries, however, can make it next to impossible.

Christina Schmit, a Certified Personal Trainer working at The Weight Room, has a good understanding of what your body is capable of, and how not to push too far.

Exercise, whether it’s lifting heavy until you grimace, walking on the treadmill or both at the same time, it can do wonders for your health. Especially with the mental fortitude to push yourself, even when it feels like, “ah! I can’t go another step, another move,” Schmit says, “just know you’ve created a wonderful thing.”

She says pushing the muscles until they’re just about beat, “that’s good. We want your muscle to feel that burn kind of sensation. We want to fatigue it. And, you just can’t do another rep, that’s when the magic happens.” Once the magic’s been cast, “where you’re like, ‘Ah!’ I can’t go anymore, that’s a good time to stop.”

While clicking sensations are typically okay, twinges, sharp pains and intense discomfort, that’s usually a bad sign. Or, explained by Schmit as if she were bench pressing, “if you are coming back and you’re coming back and you’re like, ‘Ah!’ And, it’s really uncomfortable feeling, a poke pain, an uncomfortable pain, not a burn, but just a, ‘woah that doesn’t feel right.’ Stop, stretch.”

A study finds that one in five Americans push through pain while they’re working out. So, if you’ve got weight up on the bar and you’re struggling, and especially if you’re hurting, why not have somebody help you out? Someone like Schmit, who says “just pull us aside and ask us, ‘hey does my form look okay?’ Or, ‘hey, how do you use this machine?’”

She says if something hurts it usually doesn’t mean that muscle’s a dud, because “there’s several ways you can work the same muscle group.”

So, don’t give up. Especially if you’re new to a gym and maybe a bit embarrassed, which she says “can be very, very intimidating.”

That’s okay, you can always turn to the web for encouragement.

“A newbie coming in,” Schmit says, “I would say, ‘yeah, you can do you’re research.’” However, she says hands on will likely do well for your fitness and confidence. Afterall, you’ve got to start somewhere.

“Get in,” Schmit says with a smile, “find someone like myself, a personal trainer than can come alongside you, walk through this.”

Simply lifting things up and down can lead to all kinds of health benefits. Or, in Schmit’s words, “more than you can even imagine.”

Results aren’t instant, but with time, dedication and patience, anything is possible.

“Fuel that muscle,” Schmit says, “so it can grow, and so it can build and be the best that it can be.”

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