4 Rules On How to Train with Pain:
After this 10 min read you should have a idea on how you can train around and with your pain, and eventually out of pain
-but you will also find out when to seek professional help and advice.
“Got into a great workout routine last year, started to feel some pain, kept going decided to push through and got this injury. Then I went to the doctor he told me to take 2-4 weeks off training and rest the “INSERT ANY BODY PART OR JOINT”.
It was super painful for a few weeks, and I couldn’t even do house chores or go to work without taking painkillers. It really scared me, then I just haven’t gotten back into training.
Now its been 6 months and I have put on some weight and some other aches and pains have started to appear and I dont really know what to do. “
Sounds familiar?
This sadly is an extremely common excuse or reason that people fall out of their training routines. There are also ways to help you work through this discomfort and discern between injuries and pain.
- If you are working out, attending classes and feel a bit of discomfort or pain but are still able to complete the workouts
- If you have occasional aches and pains that come and go throughout your training.
- Or if you are simply aware of some imbalances that you notice or feel
There are a few options for addressing the above issues. For starters, I am not a fan of the ‘doctors advise’ to take complete rest due to pain or minor injury- there are some caveats to that but we can discuss that further in a later post. What we will discuss here is how to work through the 4 Pain Rules to help you get better and keep moving.
Why do injuries happen?
Short and simple: Most injuries in the gym come from “friction” between tissues that don't move like they are supposed to, or because the poor buggers get blocked or pinched due to mobility or technique issues.
You can limit the risks by focusing on:
Making sure to include mobility in your warm-ups
Learn how to move well, and have the technique under control
Movement First, then intensity and volume.
Before we move on let me clarify what I mean with Intensity and Volume:
We are built up of tissues, muscle and connective tissue that most often gets injured in the gym. These tissues are like elastic bands connecting our bones together.
If we pull/tense them to much, that is load them up with more weight than they can handle - they can snap
If we pull it a little bit, but too many times, it can also wear and tear down and, over time snap.
What we want to do in training is to apply appropriate Volume and Intensity, we want to pull, stress and load the tissues up with the right amount so that it over time it grows stronger not weaker.
The following rules can be used to guide you through this journey of monitoring your training loads as well as help you the journey to becoming pain-free again if you have come to irritate your poor tissues a little bit too much in the past.
Let´s dive in
Visual Analog Scale (VAS) is a helpful tool that is good to keep in mind and use when assessing pain and discomfort. This scale ranges form 0 to 10, where 0 is no pain, discomfort and 10 is the worst pain you can imagine. Training yourself out of pain will not be completely pain free, but you can use the following guidelines to do it safely.
Pain Rule Number 1:
When training, during any movement or exercise your pain should be less than a 4 on the Visual Analog Scale (VAS). As long as you stay under 4 you are pretty safe, not risking creating any further damages of tissue.
But the saying “No pain, no gain” also applies here, when you know this limit, and apply it you are also making sure you provide the right stimulus so your tissues can grow stronger following your session.
Pain Rule Number 2:
During any given exercise as you keep moving through your set, your pain should DECREASE or STAY THE SAME. So if you start your squats with pain VAS 3 in your knee, as you move through your set of squats your pain should be the same, or better as you move through each set of 10.
Pain Rule Number 3:
When you stop moving your pain should disappear, there should be no further discomfort or pain once you stop moving, rack the bar or put down the DB. Your muscles can feel pumped, your quadriceps might feel jacked, the normal training sensation but no further pain or discomfort.
Pain Rule Number 4:
Within the next 48 hours is you will know if you did just the right amount or too much. IF you experience worse pain from your injury in the following 2 days, 48 hours you did too much.
For example, if your knee pain was 1-2 before your session, it should stay 1-2 AFTER your session.But if you wake up 2 days after your session with a 4 pain in your knee, that means you did too much or went too heavy.
You need to back off a little bit and find a level of intensity where your pain level stays unchanged in the following days. (We are not talking about DOMS, or sore muscles here, those are perfectly fine ;) )
So when should you consult with a licensed therapist or professional help?
If you experience pain that is worse than 4 on the scale of 0-10 during movements, and lowering the weight and looking at the technique does not help.
If your pain gets progressively WORSE during your set of the given movement, you start out with no pain but as you move on it gets worse.
If you have tried to lower the weight, decrease the reps and improve your technique but you still have worse pain in the area the following 2 days after your training session. (again we are not talking about DOMS here)
Lastly if you are feeling helpless, have tried everything or don’t feel confident going through the above steps on your own.
Personally, I LOVE helping people train their way out of pain.
There are a lot of ways to do this, and many different approaches to addressing this pain- from what I’ve mentioned above to other methods I’ve used for specific cases.
I see clients train themselves to a completely new quality of life in about 3-9 months, where they are able to return to their previous activities and most often some new and exciting sports.
I offer free consultations: Book a 20 min ZOOM consultation on your issue, I´m happy to guide you on where to start, and can help you determine if it smart to start with treatment or training or combination of both. This consult is completely FREE of charge. Click here to see available timings
Whatever you do,
-Just don't do NOTHING.
I Hope this clears up things around training with pain - if you have any questions, don’t hesitate to reach out
#fitwitheik #buildathrivinglifestyle
