Training should happen at 70% effort most of the time, on a consistent basis, and full intensity effort occasionally.

The next two, three days will be hell because of the muscle pain, which can even take you the verge of a fever sometimes. This means that even if you are still motivated to work out, you will be forced to stay home to wait for some relief. You'd think that after the muscles heal, you'd head back to the gym, but that is not often the case. Because of the intense pain you have just been through, your mind will tend to tell you, sometimes subliminally, to avoid the gym.

And that is why soreness is one of the top reasons people quit the gym.

There is a work out philosophy made popular by Firas Zahabi, a Canadian martial artist who is also the owner and head coach at Tristar Gym where he trains athletes of different disciplines. The philosophy is to workout smarter and choose consistency over intensity.

"Training should happen at 70% effort most of the time, on a consistent basis, and full intensity effort occasionally," he says.

"We should train in a flow state, enjoying the workout leading to effortless consistent training. Consistent practice will ultimately lead to more hours with less injury than always going all out."

Lady working out with friends Pulse

Never Sore?

Firas asserts that you should not train to the point of being sore or to the point of exhaustion.

Firas says: “Don’t redline the body. If you are at a 7, work until you are at an 8.5, don’t go until you are tired.”

His argument is this: Making yourself sore thwarts training the next day, and pushing yourself past the point of enjoying the exercise sets up mental training roadblocks by creating an aversion to working out.

Man with Sore muscles Pulse

This expert asserts that if you are not loving it, or in a “flow state” as he calls it, training will be massively harder, which will cause the athlete to quit because they hate the training.

Firas stresses consistency and volume over intensity. Do five push ups everyday for ten days other than doing 50 in one day.

Bruce Lee one said:

"I fear not the man who has practiced 10,000 kicks once, but I fear the man who has practiced one kick 10,000 times."

Firas says having flow, or being “in the zone” leads to greater performance. In a flow state you have energized focus, full involvement and enjoyment of what you are doing.

“If you are not in flow state, it will not be fun and take too much mental energy to go work out. When you leave flow state, cut the workout short,” Firas says.

Well, now you know the trick to staying in the mood for working out.