Welcome to the Get Fit Guys, quick and dirty tips to slim down and shape up.

My name is Ben Greenfield, and I'm the Get Fit Guy.

We've all heard it before. No pain, no gain.

And I must admit, unless my muscles are burning or my lungs are heaving during a workout,

I feel like I'm shorting myself from getting a good fitness response.

And there certainly is truth to the idea that if you want to burn fat faster, build, or

tone muscle, or expand your cardiovascular capacity, your workouts do need to take you a little

outside your comfort zone. So in this episode,

you're going to discover a new study that highlights how to make yourself more tough. Tough enough

to handle not only hard workouts, but also other painful experiences that life might throw at you,

such as hot water, cold water, needles, car crashes, emotional stress,

or even chronic pain.

I must admit, as an Ironman triathlete, I'm extremely excited about this study.

You'll understand when you see the title.

Triathletes feel less pain.

In the study, researchers compared non-athletes with seasoned triathletes.

The non-athletes did non-competitive exercise at a lower level, such as swimming, jogging, and

aerobics, while the triathletes did their usual routine of high-intensity intervals,

competition, and racing. Then both groups

underwent tests that measured pain threshold, pain tolerance, and pain intensity, and also completed

questionnaires about their attitude to pain, such as fear and amount of perceived stress. The

results showed that the triathletes and the non-athletes could both

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