Following the extensive coverage of King Charles III’s coronation, one of the people to receive a lot of praise was Penny Mourdant, who became the first woman to carry and present the Jewelled Sword of Offering during the ceremony. Much was made of Mourdant’s poise, stamina and composure throughout, and she subsequently gave an interview during which she revealed that she, “did take a couple of painkillers before [the event]”. But is it a good idea to use painkillers in this way – in order to get us through an exercise session?
Before I discuss this further, I need to remind you that I’m a certified Personal Trainer, rather than a medical professional. The following therefore doesn’t constitute medical advice, and I would always encourage anyone with concerns to seek appropriate professional guidance. However, I will give my perspective on painkiller use as a personal trainer…
Exercise and pain: what should I expect?
Oh, what a controversial topic this can be! So many people are familiar with the toxic phrase, “no pain, no gain”, and lots of people choose to stick by it. I’m not one of them, partly because I subscribe to the belief that we are all individuals, and I choose to trust what people tell me that they are experiencing in their bodies. It’s totally valid that what causes pain or discomfort (because I also believe that whole paradigm is a spectrum) for one person, is absolutely fine for another. And there are reasons for this which are both physiological and psychological.
With all of that being said… I do think that there are plenty of times when exercise will cause physical and emotional discomfort that are to be expected. Some of this is a normal physical process – for example, if you’re talking about building muscle, the way that happens is for the internal fibres to sustain micro tears – and some of it less so – such as suffering an injury, even something as minor as a blister courtesy of your shoe.
So my advice is this: if you want to progress, prepare for some temporary discomfort. Learn what is normal for your body so that you can monitor it. And also establish what you’re willing to accept, and whether that is also healthy and realistic.
Should I push through the pain to exercise?
Pain is one of the methods of communication our bodies use to get our attention. There may be a need to be met, or it could be that it’s alerting you to a problem. Either way, pain signals are there to be listened to, and at the very least, it’s a good idea to check in with what the issue is. Sometimes, it’s the case that you need urgent medical help. At others, it could be that you need to rest. And there’s a whole lot of other scenarios in between.
A couple of weeks prior to the coronation, I was watching the London marathon, and early in the race, Sifan Hassan looked incredibly uncomfortable. I was actually shouting at the TV, begging her to pull out and, at one point, said to the other people around me, “It’s time for her to stop. She’s hardly going to win, is she?”.
Wow did I look stupid a couple of hours later, because against the odds, and having fought through some serious pain, win she did.
I haven’t heard whether she did herself any damage in her incredible feat, but it definitely comes under the banner of, “don’t try this at home”. Hassan is an elite athlete and the risks she took and decisions she made are not to be replicated by everyday grassroots athletes. So how should we cope?
Can I take painkillers before exercise?
Full disclosure: there are occasions during which I’ve taken painkillers prior to training. It’s been a case-by-case decision for me, often being about the management of an old injury, or choosing to go ahead when suffering from an illness such as a cold. But as I’ve already said: there comes a point when rest definitely is best.
If you’re finding that you’re reaching for painkillers prior to or following all or most of your sessions, something needs to be addressed. This is just common sense advice, the sort of thing you’d tell a friend if you noticed them getting through a significant amount of over the counter medication. Painkillers are there to help us in the short term, rather than support us in the long term. Which brings us back to Penny…
Was Penny Mourdant right to medicate for the coronation?
Far be it from me to tell a stranger what to do with their body. My own choice, if I knew that I was going to participate in an event such as a coronation and would be required to steadily carry a heavy and precious object for a long period of time would be to put some training in. Carrying dead weight in that manner, and making it look good is hard! There’s no question that Mourdant did a brilliant job. And if she wanted the reassurance of some basic medication on board, who can blame her?
If she had done everything else right, such as ensuring she nourished and hydrated herself appropriately before and afterwards (and potentially had a massage!), I don’t see any issue with her decision. Largely because it was a one-off – that’s the real key here.
Exercise should be about positive habits that support our health and performance. Persistent use of painkillers without investigating the root cause of your symptom doesn’t fall into that category. Doing the best by yourself would be monitoring any habits for patterns and causes and, if you can’t figure out the problem or it doesn’t improve, seek professional support.