Hi friends,

If you work out long enough, you’re going to experience some pain along the way.

But how should you interpret the pain? And when do you need to get it checked out?

As a physical therapist, this is a topic I discuss with clients daily. Discerning when to push through pain versus when to dial back can be challenging for even experienced exercisers.

The Exercise Pain Traffic Light

I often use the stoplight analogy to help my patients understand how to interpret pain during exercise:

🟢 Green light: No discomfort or pain is felt, and it is safe to proceed with your workout.

🟡 Yellow light: Mild to moderate discomfort is felt during the exercise, but it goes away after the workout is completed. You might benefit from modifying the activity or picking a different movement. Monitor your symptoms, and if they worsen, seek out help.

🔴 Red light: Sharp pain that limits your motion or prevents you from doing the exercise. You should stop the painful exercise and seek out help from medical attention.

The stoplight analogy is helpful to determine if you should continue with your current exercise selection or if you need to see a professional; however, everyone experiences pain differently, and there are no black-and-white guidelines on when you should push through pain or stop.

Not All Pain Is Created Equal

There are also different kinds of pain. For example, some may interpret muscle soreness/burning from exercise as harmful pain, but this is much different from a sharp, shooting joint pain.

A set of 20 reps with barbell squats may elicit intense muscle soreness in your quads, but if you only feel it in your quads and feel it symmetrically in both legs, it is likely safe to proceed with another set.

On the other hand, if you get a stabbing pain deep in your knee joint and just on one side with each rep, it is likely a type of pain that should be checked out.

The Bottom Line

If you have mild to moderate discomfort with an exercise, monitor your symptoms to see if they improve, or choose a different exercise. If you have a sharp, severe pain that limits your ability to do the exercise, you should likely get it checked out by a medical provider.

Until next week,

Kevin

✍️ Quote I’m reflecting upon

"Busy is the death of productivity and happiness."

— Naval Ravikant