Push through pain! No pain, no gain, right?
Ideas that are outdated, not beneficial to you and can do more harm than good.
“Should I push through pain?”
I get this question a lot and here are my thoughts on this…
I think we need to become familiar with how our body feels on a daily basis. Tune in with your body. It may help to keep a journal to bring awareness to this practice of noticing and acknowledging how your body feels. Just like how you might track your food intake, you can track your activity and your response to the activity. That way, you can start to see patterns in how your body feels with activity and without activity. You become more aware of what it’s telling you. You’ll learn when you can keep going and when you may need to rest or go a little easy on yourself. For people with uteruses, take notice of how you may feel throughout your cycle because your energy levels fluctuate throughout the hormonal changes associated with your cycle.
If you’re wondering how to tune in with your body, my go-to for this is a body scan. I usually lay or sit comfortably and close my eyes or lower my gaze. I spend a few minutes trying to soften and slow my breath. I bring my focus to my toes and think about how they feel and notice if they are they relaxed or gripping. If I feel tension, I visualize bringing my breath to the area or visualize a warm light shining from the inside and imagine bringing that light and warmth here. Sometimes, I try to visualize rooting into the earth to ground and relax. I move up the leg repeating this process and then do the same with the other leg, starting at the foot. Progressing up to my knees, hips, pelvis, buttocks, abdomen, one hand, up the arm, opposite hand/arm, chest, throat, neck/throat, face, jaw, ears, and top of head. This gives me so much information. After you do this activity, it’s a great idea to journal on what you felt so that you can learn more about your own body and learn what it might need. Where was your tension? Where did you feel discomfort or pain? Were you able to stay still or did you wiggle trying to reposition? If you do this again, be mindful of where you wanted to reposition and try supporting that area with pillows or blankets. Try a different position all together if you want. You can sit in a chair or propped on the couch and see how that feels for you. Body scans are a great way to start becoming more familiar with how your body feels on a day to day basis. They can take as little or as much time as you need to check in with yourself and see where you are that day.
If you are just starting to exercise, my advice is to write down what you do each session. Write down what exercise you complete including the amount of weight used, repetitions, and sets of repetitions. Write down what cardio you complete, whether it’s outside or inside. If you walk outside, note if it was on hilly terrain, trail, grass, greenway, or asphalt. If you practice yoga, what type? Ashtanga, Hatha, Vinyasa, Yin, Restorative or Kundalini? How long were you exercising? Did you add any new activity? Did you increase weights or reps? Did you change your terrain? Where are you feeling sore? Where do you feel you have been able to push a little harder? Where did you need to ease off?
When you have pain and you decide to exercise, you may need to back off on your usual activity or reduce the intensity of the activity. It is okay to move and exercise when you have pain, but you may need to adjust the intensity, weights used, repetitions completed or number of sets completed. You may need to apply cold packs, ice massage or ice bath afterward to help reduce any swelling or soreness. If you are experiencing pain especially caused by a particular movement, adjust the movement. Try a different position, try decreasing resistance applied, try decreasing the impact to the area, try moving through pain-free ranges rather than really pushing through full range and through pain.
One thing that helps me if I’m experiencing pain is to explore that area with my range of motion. I listen to what that area is telling me, taking time to breathe into that area, letting it tell me what is going on. I progress into the range as I can but do not keep doing the thing that causes pain and I don’t keep pushing through it. I know that doing that can cause damage to the area or chronic inflammation from the stress in the area of pain.
I have had issues with my SI joint (the joint that joins my pelvis to my spine). It started when I was pregnant with my first child. I wasn’t showing and was in the first trimester. I was laying on the floor watching tv and the phone rang. No, it wasn’t a cell phone, so I got up to answer the phone and felt a pull in my lower back area. That pain stayed with me for the rest of my pregnancy on my right side. I didn’t know any women’s health physical therapists at that point and I really didn’t know what was safe for me to do as far as exercise at that time. Several months after my son was born, I was able to correct the problem, but for years, I would have little flare-ups of pain. Sometimes, it would be something like turning quickly that would tweak that area and cause pain. It may last for a day or up to 2 weeks. For years, I would exercise and would feel great and then I’d stop and slip into my old routine not exercising. Several years ago, I was helping our aging pet get up to go outside when I really pulled on this joint. Oh my, it was painful for weeks! But, what I did at that time was different. Instead of stopping my exercise routine, I changed what I was doing. It had taken me too long to get into a routine of exercise and I knew I would miss it. Standing on that one leg was painful but walking was okay. So, I kept walking although I did it slower than normal. I surely didn’t set any personal records, but I kept walking. I tested it and it felt okay, so I kept doing it. I walked on level asphalt so that I wouldn’t jolt the area like I do when I walk on our local single-track trail. When I practiced yoga, I spent more time in child’s pose and standing forward bends as these felt relaxing and calming to my SI joint. I wasn’t able to stand on that side for tree pose, but I would stand and shift as much of my weight as possible without an increase in pain. I was able to complete spinal twists, but in smaller ranges than I normally could. I used ice daily as this felt really good to my back after I would work my shift. Knee to chest, single and double, helped and rocking side to side during double knee to chest helped. I think, for me, consistency with movement has helped me avoid any flare-ups for the last 7 years.
So, should you push through pain?
The short answer is no, do not push through pain. The better answer is listen to the pain and modify activity to reduce pain responses and swelling. Swelling is always an indication to slow down or modify an activity. Getting to know your body and how it responds to movement can also help you when you have pain as well. You can easily determine if the pain is from soreness from a previous exercise/activity or a new injury that needs to be assessed by medical professional. Pain is not “weakness leaving the body” like I’ve seen printed on t-shirts. There is a reason for it and it tells us what is going on in our body and mind. Studies show that mental stress can increase the pain we feel in our lower back, so not only should we modify our activity or exercise routine, but we should also address our mental health as well. Mental and physical well-being go hand in hand and we cannot have one without the other in my opinion.
Take good care,
Sharon