3 ways to KNOW: “Do I Push Through the Pain?”
It can be frustrating when you’re working through aches and pains, trying to figure out whether or not to push through the pain or back off and play it safe. If you have concerns about pain, here is a great guideline of determining whether to keep training normally, when to modify, or when you should hold off on an activity.
When it comes to determining what to do, think about a traffic light with a red, yellow, and green light. 🚦
🚨Red Light – Stop. Try something else.
During this stage, you have increased pain DURING the activity, AFTER the activity, and pain the NEXT day. Whatever that movement was, it is best to hold off, modify the movement, and look up some content via social media, online, friends, or healthcare professionals to help you keep training while you work to decrease that pain.
⚠️Yellow Light – Be cautious.
During this stage, you have increased pain DURING the activity OR AFTER you perform the activity, but no pain the NEXT day, OR no increased pain DURING an activity, but you have pain AFTER the activity and/or pain the NEXT day. With this light, you should first think to change the load, the volume, or intensity of the activity and note the improvement. Corrective exercises or recovery techniques are likely useful during this phase. It is important to figure out what modifications help with this so that your pain does not turn into a “red light”
✅ Green Light – Go. During this stage, you have NO increased pain DURING the activity, AFTER the activity, or the NEXT DAY.
These are great ways to monitor how your training is tolerated and progressing. You’ll notice that in no scenario do you have to stop training all together. There are always ways to continue improving, even if you’re dealing with pain. If you have further questions specific to you, we are excited to show you have to take care of yourself and can keep training in the communities you love to be a part of!
Wishing you the best for your health,
Dr. Luke
If you have any specific questions, we would be happy to help you learn to take care of yourself even better. You can contact at team member at Training Nation through email at getbetter@trainingnationpt.com, or can be reached at 937-802-4283.