There is a spectrum of beliefs when we are talking about pain with exercise. There are people who believe you should have no pain when you exercise and others who believe that you should “push through the pain.” What is correct? Should you have pain when you exercise? Maybe there is a middle ground!

In the past, we’ve talked about “good pain” and “bad pain.” Good pain is the pain you feel from your muscles working out. It’s a fatigue, burning, or even a “suffocating” sensation. Bad pain is not muscular fatigue but potentially joint, muscle strain, or nerve pain. Examples would be back pain, “sciatica,” a rolled ankle, or a shoulder strain.

In an ideal world, we would only want to exercise with good pain! The reality is that we all experience pain, though, especially as we age. So how do you exercise if you feel bad pain? The answer is not stopping exercise altogether!

Here are three pieces of advice to follow in regards to bad pain with exercise:

Make sure the pain does not get more than a 2-3/10 on your VAS Pain Scale. The VAS Pain Scale is your rating of 0 ('no pain') and 10 ('pain as bad as it could possibly be').
Make sure your pain is not getting worse as you exercise. Do you notice that the pain is going from a 1/10 to a 3/10 as you continue to exercise? It’s getting worse!
Monitor pain for 24 hours afterward. If you had 2/10 pain when exercising, but the next day, you have 0/10 pain, your body’s response was OK! If you had 0/10 when exercising, but your painful area is a 3/10 the next day, your body’s response wasn’t OK!

Note that these are guidelines and not rules to follow. These guidelines capture MOST common musculoskeletal problems, but sometimes we need to be more specific in regards to the type of pain you have and the advice we give you.

We want to emphasize that hurt does not always equal harm.

When you are exercising with a little pain and the pain is not getting worse, maybe you are sensitizing that area. What do we mean? Maybe you are making it MORE tolerable to exercise. How cool is that?

So next time you are working out and feel a little pain, consider these guidelines. Instead of completely stopping, can you keep going and listen to your body? Does the pain accumulate? Stop! Does it go away? You are in the clear!

If you are questioning if your pain is good or bad when you exercise, please contact a physical therapist. You could benefit from an evaluation and consultion regarding exercising with pain!