# People that can't feel pain. How's exercising like to them? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 6, 2017, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-that-cant-feel-pain-hows-exercising-like-to-them/792926 "2017-08-06T16:43:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Contemplation](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Contemplation](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Contemplation)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2017, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-that-cant-feel-pain-hows-exercising-like-to-them/792926/1 "2017-08-06T16:43:10Z")
Some people have a rare disorder where they can’t feel pain, so I always wondered why they aren’t super athletes. Do they still feel physically tired when working out? ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2017, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-that-cant-feel-pain-hows-exercising-like-to-them/792926/2 "2017-08-06T16:49:14Z")
Not having the inherent physical ability will prevent super athletehood. (Example) If you can’t process 70-75 or more ml/kg of oxygen, you will never come near a world class marathon. Pain is not a factor, build up of waste products from anaerobic metabolism brings muscle contraction to a halt (booty lock). ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2017, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-that-cant-feel-pain-hows-exercising-like-to-them/792926/3 "2017-08-06T16:59:10Z")
Pain serves a purpose. People who can’t feel pain need to take great care not to injure themselves. Becoming a great athlete involves intense training, and the degree of suffering involved in that training is important for the athlete to judge how hard they should push themselves. If a person with the genetic endowment to become a great athlete were unable to feel pain, I think it would be extremely difficult for them to realize their potential, because they would so easily injure themselves through inability to judge an appropriate training intensity. ---
**Author:** ![Contemplation](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Contemplation](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Contemplation)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2017, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-that-cant-feel-pain-hows-exercising-like-to-them/792926/4 "2017-08-06T17:09:29Z")
> [@running\_coach](#): > > Not having the inherent physical ability will prevent super athletehood. > > (Example) If you can’t process 70-75 or more ml/kg of oxygen, you will never come near a world class marathon. Pain is not a factor, build up of waste products from anaerobic metabolism brings muscle contraction to a halt (booty lock). Not necessarily, muscles also do anaerobic respiration until glycogen becomes depleted. ---
**Author:** ![Skara\_Brae](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f0a364/32.png) [@Skara\_Brae](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skara_Brae)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2017, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-that-cant-feel-pain-hows-exercising-like-to-them/792926/5 "2017-08-06T17:18:43Z")
Pain is a very important feedback mechanism for athletes (and everyone, really) People with CIP probably couldn’t become top notch athletes because they’d be trying to run/compete when injured. Historically, I think a lot of people with this disorder died from infections, because they couldn’t tell that they were sick. ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2017, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-that-cant-feel-pain-hows-exercising-like-to-them/792926/6 "2017-08-06T17:20:25Z")
> [@Contemplation](#): > > Not necessarily, muscles also do anaerobic respiration until glycogen becomes depleted. Names aren’t _always_ an indicator of erudition. I, for example, am not a legendary German mathematician. In this case, however, I do think you should pay attention to the name of the person with whom you’re disputing physiology. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2017, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-that-cant-feel-pain-hows-exercising-like-to-them/792926/7 "2017-08-06T17:22:11Z")
> [@Contemplation](#): > > Not necessarily, muscles also do anaerobic respiration until glycogen becomes depleted. Glycogen is also depleted under entirely aerobic conditions (“hitting the wall” in a marathon, a cyclist “bonking”). A runner finishing an 800, 1500, etc still has plenty of glycogen but finish in heavy oxygen debt. See the “booty lock” comment above.