AWESOME post.
Funny thing, I’m 45yrs old, and have done PE on-off over the years, but this summer decided to get into it after I took a blue pill and noticed the difference in EQ.
Man, I was a teenager again!
Anyway, I’ve also exercised all my life. I never have been a believer in getting sore at the gym, and at one point I was 175lb lean (I’m 5’6”), which is just about the size of a college running back. My gf (now wife) said I looked like I was training for MMA. And I ~never~ got sore.
Why? Because getting sore prolongs recovery. It weakens you, and it can cause long-term injuries. For a while during this time, when I was getting big, I decided to lift heavy. I tore my left shoulder during incline presses with 85lb dumbbells. And my left knee still complains from those 700lb leg presses (I’m a big dude on the leg press, baby!).
But, I forgot that lesson when I got serious about PE. I started out slow around May/June this year, peckering around with my pecker until I figured out what I wanted to do. Did some research, same stuff I’d seen for years and years, then I found Thunder and hooked in and started reading about the direct experiences here (wonderful site!). I saw some newbie gains, and I said to myself, Pull harder!
I’m not injured, but I’m sore, and it reminds me why I never got sore at the gym. It impacts recovery time, weakens you, and prolongs the entire process. Do a little, heal a little, do a little more and heal a little more and so on. The reason steroids work is they reduce recovery time. You do a more, heal more and so on. It’s still a work-heal process, and sore should not be part of it.
Now I’m back to the routine I was doing a month ago, before I amped up my tuggies and squeezies. I also added cutoff times using my phone as a timer and a safety measure against my own excitement. Hard not to get excited when you see progress with any project you undertake, but it is always wise to curb that enthusiasm.
And posts like yours remind me that I’m not the only one who believes this, or sees the proof in the results.
- Saul