My stepdad started doing pushups. It hurt his armpits, so he asked his doctor about it and was told something I thought doctors only said in memes: he said, "If it hurts, stop doing it."

I will save a rant against the medical industry for another time, but this has to be the worst medical advice ever given.

Imagine if Muhammad Ali, instead of saying he only started counting sit-ups when it started to hurt, saying instead "If it hurts, stop doing it."

Life hurts, but you don't hear people saying, "then stop" (except maybe coroners).

If you're 50 doing pushups for the first times since high school, it's going to hurt, and the first place it's going to hurt is your armpits, for the same reason your legs will hurt if you haven't walked in 30 years.

Remember the scene in The Matrix when Neo took the red pill and woke up in reality, and he said, "Why do my eyes hurt?" It wasn't because of a health defect. It was because, as Morpheus said, "You've never used them before."

The best things in life are earned, and nothing truly earned comes with ease.

Hard work isn't easy. Fitness isn't easy. A healthy diet isn't easy, and if you haven't worked hard, worked out, or eaten well in a long time, it's going to be uncomfortable.

We live in a world of ever-increasing ease, but that doesn't mean it's good for you. In fact, it's probably worse, and if mild discomfort keeps you from doing things that improve your health, it will not only get worse, but you will continue to incapacitate yourself.

The rule should be, If it hurts, keep going. In a day or two, it will hurt less, at which point you should move the goal posts, increase your rep range, work even harder, for longer.

We are dead without progress, and progress requires pushing through pain barriers.

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