10 Tips for Training With Pain
I am a HUGE fan of trying to keep training as "normal" as possible, while addressing aches/pains. At the very least, let's find a way to stay in the gym or weight training multiple days a week without prolonging or ignoring the issue.
I am not saying that I use strength and conditioning programs to specifically address pain. Thats what physical therapy is for. What I am saying is that we can 1) Address specific deficiencies in strength, mobility, power, endurance, etc to reduce the potential causes of the pain and 2) adjust the program in a way that allows folks to still get in the gym, get after it and enjoy themselves.
Over the years, I have found that I repeatedly lean into a handful of tips/techniques to help my clients (see below).
Here are 10 Tips for Training Around Pain:
1) Recognize that you need TIME. No matter how many corrective exercises you do, or how awesome your recovery process is, its going to take time before you're back to "normal." Basically, I am saying have patience and try to not fixate on a timeline.
2) Do more of the exercises, movements or patterns that feel good. Let's say knee pain is causing issues with squatting or knee-dominant type exercises. Welp, now you can advantage of the "extra" time to hit more some hinging and/or hip dominant stuff. Let the progress in those other areas help carry you through this tougher season.
3) Modify the set-ups for your current exercises, so that you can start in a position that is not immediately causing more irritation. This will allow you to better engage and coordinate the key musculature. Example: Incline DB Bench instead of flat barbell bench with pain in the front of your shoulder.
4) Reduce range of motion (ROM). If we "eliminate" or reduce the irritating range of motion, then we can move better and more controlled under load without creating more pain. In time, we can gradually increase the range as things improve.
5) Adjust the total volume of work. A great way to start slowing down inflammation/irritation is to reduce the number of reps or sets with the patterns that are most irritating. This may allow you to do the "normal" movements without modifying the set-up, range or weight, since you just reduced the overall workload/intensity.
6) Fortify your warm-up. This may mean 1) Adding in another exercise to help prep a specific muscle or joint, or 2) going into the warm-up with more focus and intent, or 3) hit some light cardio to get the body warmer and looser, or 4) do more "lighter" sets of the main strength exercises, before getting into the working sets.
7) Increase rest times. Sounds simple, but it can have a big effect. Give the body more time to replenish energy stores and slow down the heart rate + breathe rate. Less fatigue, may mean less irritability and/or more "optimal" execution of the exercises. Start by adding 30 seconds to your current rest times. If you don't time your rests, then get to it - 1.5-2min between sets (at least).
8) Adjust your schedule. Consider making small changes in how you organize or training, including: what time you go, how long the session is and what exercises you'r doing together. Maybe a 75 minute session focused solely on "chest + tri's" isn't the best thing for that elbow tendonitis you're dealing with. Spread it out into 2 or 3 upper days - both with some pressing and some pulling.
9) Eat more. Pain is complex and I'm not saying that simply increasing your calories is definitely part of the solution for you... BUT, if you are in pain then your body may also be trying to heal, grow or change on a cellular level - all of which requires energy and building blocks to create new cells/tissues.
10) Keep Track of how it feels. If you've ever been to physical therapy, then you've been asked to rate your pain on a scale of 0-10. It seems annoying that the PT asks this EVERY time you go, but this type of information can be helpful. After a few weeks or months, we can step back and look at how the ratings have changed to helps us understand if we're heading the right direction,
You can use this technique for yourself. For a few days or weeks, at the beginning and/or end of your sessions, rate your discomfort on scale of 0-10 and write it down. Now, you have more information to go off of than just "it hurts." We know it hurts... BUT if we can see the how much or how little it is hurting, then we may be able to see trends/patterns and then make adjustments.
It goes without saying that this list is not definitive. There may be other things that you can do to make your training more effective while you're dealing with pain.
That being said, I think this will have a large effect for most.
Need more help? This is exactly why I created my Prescriptive Exercise + Coaching package. A personalized program with 1-on-1 coaching that emphasizes the use of corrective exercises along side standard strength and accessory work with the goal of correcting physical limitations and addressing aches/pains.
Check it out! -or- Shoot me an email to learn more!
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Disclaimer: This is not medical, nor rehabilitative advice. If you are in pain or dealing with an injury it is recommended that you contact a health care professional to seek medical advice. If you should use/apply any of these above education, you are assuming full risk, responsibility and liability, and are waiving Tyler Kallasy and TK Strength and Conditioning LLC of all liability.
