No, no ranting about the Magic Negro today or about anti-gun people. I have something I want to toss out there based off something I witnessed at the gym this morning.

Folks, we've all heard 'no pain, no gain'. This is true to a certain extent, but seriously if you are experiencing intense pain while working out, that is your body's way of saying 'hey asshole, somethings wrong'.

Here's some advice for folks that are interested in getting in shape:

1. Don't force yourself to work out. If you aren't up for it or are too tired, you are only going to hurt yourself.

2. Warm up first. Do stretches, walk around a bit

3. Start slow. Unless you're Carl Lewis, you're probably not in the kind of shape that lets you go from 0-60 like a cheetah tearing after a gazelle. Start off slow then increase your pace till you achieve your desired heart rate.

4. Don't over do it. You didn't get fat overnight so why do you think you're going to get thin overnight? It takes time. The key isn't to hit the gym once a month for 4 hours. The key is to incorporate a consistent and regular amount of exercise that increases as you get back into shape. Most doctors say raising your heart rate into your target zone for 45 minutes 3-4 times a week is all you need to help reduce your risks of hacker related illnesses.

5. If you start to experience intense pain, unusual joint pain, dizziness, shortness of breath, or tightness in your chest dont 'push through it'..STOP. You may not be 'hitting the wall' you may actually be 'having a stroke'.

A few years back I started taking my health a lot more seriously. I had to accept that some of these lifestyle choices I had made that 'would come back to haunt me when I was older' were starting to come back to haunt me because despite my best efforts to live in denial, I wasn't a teenager anymore. Years of smoking, drinking, and sitting at a keyboard for 20 hours a day had resulted in a host of health problems. I realized that I could either suck it up, start taking prescription drugs like candy and run out the clock till an early heart failure related death in my mid-40's, or I could do something about it. I chose to change my diet, quit smoking, cut out the liquor, and start getting my ass to the gym regularly. It was rough going at first. You're hungry all the time, you're up at the crack of dawn to hit the gym, you're tired from being hungry and worn out. The trick was to just be persistent and to just get up and do it, each day trying to do just a little better than the day before.

Today I basically saw a guy who looked to be about where I was at last year. However he came in and hit the ground running, literally. This guy got on the elliptical machine and took off like he was running from the cops. Few minutes into his work out I noticed that every so often he would clench his teeth and scrunch his eyes like he was in severe pain. The guy just kept doing this like this severe pain was part of the 'getting in shape' process. Fortunately he didn't keel over on the machine, however I would be willing to bet that despite all that pain, his workout was less effective than it would have been if he had just followed the simple rules I laid out above.