Did You Just Work It, or Make It Worse?

Injuries can be tricky. Pain can be tricky. Rehab can be tricky.

Often times, it can be difficult to determine whether to keep going, modify, or stop altogether.

One simple question to ask yourself when you “feel it” while training or in life is this…ask yourself…does it feel worked or worse?

There is a clear line here! You’ll know if something feels worse, you’ve been there before, felt that before, it’s painful. What you may have not felt for a while in that area is a “worked” feeling.

A worked feeling feels like…work!! Relate it to any other body part that you haven’t trained in a while. It gets sore, the muscle fatigues, maybe you even cramp a little! All of these are good things to experience when getting a tissue or joint back to health!

Here’s the kicker…a worked feeling CAN BE UNCOMFORTABLE! This is due to changes happening and tissues building tolerance to the load or stimulus you are putting into them.

Pain is also uncomfortable, obviously. The difference is, uncomfortable feelings during pain feel unproductive, or harmful. Uncomfortable feelings during work feel the opposite…productive and useful.

If you’re experiencing the worse feeling, this is where we modify. To find out more on how to do that check out our post using the Traffic Light Guide during these times!

Dr. Caleb