Jennifer Aniston Is Begging Everyone to Ignore One Popular Fitness Tip — And We Totally Get Why

Friends alum, Jennifer Aniston, is all for a healthy lifestyle and routine workouts but there is one popular belief about the fitness world that she decided to avert from. The Hollywood star has been making headlines for her nutritious meal hacks and commitment to a health-focused approach even at 55. Smart workouts are more crucial for the body than hard-core ones, she believes. Earlier in January, Aniston opened up about her fitness regimen which is not as painful as you would expect. She debunked the “no pain no gain” mantra that many abide by to achieve their fitness goals, per People. 

The Murder Mystery actress said in the interview, “'No pain, no gain.' That's not true at all. You can actually have gain with no pain.” Aniston clarified that her advice stemmed from pure experience as she claimed to have tried it all. According to her perspective, a fitness enthusiast does not need to punish their body to witness real and healthy improvements. “And my big takeaway is, 'Boy, you didn't have to hurt your body so much back then. You didn't need to beat yourself up,'” she added. 

Recalling her former mindset that revolved around this overrated mantra, the Emmy winner shared that it always stuck out in the back of her mind. She then pushed herself to complete her workout goals, which included 45 minutes of cardio followed by floor work and weights. With time and experience though, Aniston discovered that workouts can be painless. "You can actually enjoy your workout, not break your body, and have an incredible transformation," the Horrible Bosses star quipped. She hinted that this tried-and-tested method helped her transformation over the several other tactics she has applied. 

Fortunately for Aniston, a few experts have weighed in on her suggestion saving her from hate projections from the fitness community. Tami Smith, a certified personal trainer, agreed, “Pain doesn’t inherently equal gain, in fact, it can offer the opposite.” She acknowledged that while feeling pain to some extent is acceptable, persistent painful workouts more often than not result in injury, mostly in beginners. “We can’t judge the effectiveness or the quality of a workout by whether or not it was painful or if we are sore the next day,” she said suggesting that they are not true indicators of an effective workout, as reported by Parade. 

Similarly, Dr. Vernon B. Williams, MD, a sports neurologist, explained that “soreness” and “discomfort” are part of aggressive exertion but “acute pain (particularly if it is new and has a sudden onset) should be avoided.” He is also the founding director of the Center for Sports Neurology and Pain Medicine at Cedars-Sinai Orthopaedics in Los Angeles. Moreover, rest days are essential to promote better physical and mental health as they allow the body to heal and restore strength. 

More importantly, pushing through pain may seem inspiring but it can potentially cause serious injuries that may “completely derail your plans” resulting in no gains, Dr. Williams highlighted. The more painful a workout, the more days one will need to recover from the pain and soreness ultimately disturbing the workout routines. Measures like the Borg Rating of Perceived Exertion (RPE) scale are used to indicate effective workouts or by simply reflecting on the state of our mental health. It may vary from person to person depending on their fitness goals.