I see a large disparity in how people deal with pain. Some people let pain stop them in their tracks and others ignore it completely, a lot of the time to a fault. Some people diagnose themselves with highly specific injuries and ailments while others blame every issue they have on the same thing over and over again. Pain is subjective and people are predictable. The way someone deals with physical pain one time will be the way they deal with it all the time (remove extremes from this scenario). This is important to understand when dealing with individuals but also important to understand about yourself. Which type of person are you?

Pain is complicated and I know that I am not qualified to get into the nuances, so I won’t. However, one thing I have noticed over and over again is that my clients are told by someone that they shouldn’t do something because they have an injury or limitation. Unfortunately, we tend to draw straight lines in our heads from injury to activity when told something like this. A great example is moving your knee out towards your toes. Somehow, somewhere, some doctor told someone with knee pain that they should not squat with their knees going forward over their toes. This is such a simple and logical story that it had been accepted by everyone without question for a very long time and it became a rule to live by. “Do not move your knees over your toes or you will explode!” We have all heard this advice in regard to knee health and it turns out this advice is dead wrong and potentially harmful in the long term. I can go deeper on this specific example another time. I do want to say that, when this advice comes from a doctor, I do think it is in good faith. I think, for the most part, doctors are operating under a “do the least harm” type of framework and it is what they know how to do… but it does not make them right.

In regard to goal setting, I think it is worth thinking about this because it can help you make the best decisions for yourself. If you struggle dealing with pain and it stops you from doing certain things, you should avoid extreme goals like running a marathon or trying to look like a bodybuilder. Achieving either of those two archetypes comes with serious discomfort and pain. Most successful bodybuilders are sore all the time to the point that it becomes the norm and runners tend to deal with foot, ankle, knee, and lower back complications all too frequently. These would be roadblocks for you that would be hard to overcome if pain is a limiter for you. Instead, you can take those goals and turn them into more specific, attainable outcomes. Instead of looking like a bodybuilder, you can try to get to 12% body fat (competing bodybuilders step on stage closer to 3-4% body fat), and instead of trying to run a marathon, start with a 5K. Those things involve significantly less discomfort and pain.

What is the point? Do not allow yourself to be a prisoner to your pain and do not try to make direct links between your pain and certain movements. If you have chronic pain, it is most likely a symptom of a long list of compensations you have made over a very long time and not directly linked to one particular movement. The same way I try to avoid demonizing certain foods, I feel the same way about movement. Do not demonize movements because, when we overly restrict ourselves, it usually leads to overconsumption or overuse of something else. Developing a healthy relationship with pain and movement is beneficial for everyone. That means when you are in pain, you are able to decide whether it is a real problem or not and what activities you should or should not do. If your back hurts, go for a nice walk instead of laying on the couch with ice. If your knee hurts when you go down the stairs, do not shut yourself down and stop moving. Look to movement as the medicine instead of the enemy. This type of thought process will pay dividends for you down the road.