If you exercise through pain, it can be difficult to know whether you are safely working through discomfort or making a problem worse.
Maybe your knee hurts during a run, your back feels uncomfortable at the gym or something starts bothering you after a round of golf. Should you keep going, reduce what you are doing or stop completely?
The answer depends less on whether pain is present and more on what the pain feels like, how it changes and how your body responds afterwards.
My name is Kevin, and I’m a physiotherapist based in Brisbane with a focus on musculoskeletal injuries. I spend much of my time working with active people who want to keep training rather than stop altogether.
The question of whether someone should exercise through pain comes up regularly because people often fall into one of two extremes. They either ignore pain and keep pushing, or they become worried and avoid activity completely.
In many situations, a more measured approach sits somewhere between those two options.
Pain is important, but it is not always a direct measure of how much tissue damage is occurring.
This is particularly relevant with persistent musculoskeletal pain. Research suggests that some people with chronic musculoskeletal conditions can complete therapeutic exercise with a tolerable level of pain without producing worse outcomes than pain-free exercise. However, this does not mean that every type of pain should simply be ignored.
Movement and exercise can also form an important part of managing ongoing pain and maintaining physical function.
So, whether you should exercise through pain depends on the situation. The goal is not to prove that you can tolerate pain. It is to find an appropriate level of activity that your body can manage.
The challenge is that pain can mean different things in different circumstances.
Some people continue training despite pain that is becoming sharper, more intense or progressively worse. Others notice mild discomfort and immediately stop all activity, even when modifying their training may have been an option.
That is why using pain as your only measure can make deciding whether to exercise through pain confusing.
Instead, look at the bigger picture: what happens during the activity, whether your movement changes, how severe the symptoms become and how you feel later that day and the following day.
For some musculoskeletal problems, mild and tolerable discomfort during exercise may be acceptable if symptoms remain controlled and settle afterwards.
Rather than focusing on pain alone, pay attention to whether:
Being able to exercise through pain in this way does not mean you should continually increase the load regardless of symptoms. It means discomfort can sometimes be used as one part of the feedback guiding your training.
There are also situations where trying to exercise through pain is not the right approach.
Stop or modify the activity if the pain is sharp, unusual, rapidly worsening or substantially different from what you normally experience. New swelling, significant loss of movement or function, or pain following a clear injury are also reasons to reassess rather than simply keep pushing.
Australian arthritis guidance similarly recommends stopping exercise when it produces unusual pain or increases symptoms beyond what is normal for the individual.
If you are unsure what your symptoms mean, particularly after a new injury, getting them assessed is more useful than repeatedly testing how much pain you can tolerate.
Choosing to exercise through pain does not mean your training needs to stay exactly the same.
Often, the more useful option is to adjust the activity so you can remain active without repeatedly aggravating your symptoms. Depending on the problem, that might involve:
Then monitor what happens over the following day or two.
If symptoms remain manageable and return towards their usual level, your current training load may be appropriate. If pain continues to build or your function is worsening, that is a sign the load may need to be adjusted further.
The decision to exercise through pain is rarely as simple as “push through” or “stop everything”.
Pain does not automatically mean that you are causing damage, but it should still be treated as useful information. The key is to consider the type of pain, how it behaves during activity and how your body responds afterwards.
Small, sensible training adjustments can often be more useful than either forcing your way through worsening symptoms or abandoning activity altogether.
If you are unsure whether you should exercise through pain, an individual assessment can help clarify what may be contributing to your symptoms and what level of activity is appropriate for you.
A personalised plan can also help you adjust your training while working towards staying active and progressing with greater confidence.
Book a session with one of our physiotherapists online or contact us 1800 992 999 arrange an appointment.
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Written By:
Bachelor of Physiotherapy |
References
Lim, J., Choi, A. and Kim, B. (2024) ‘The effects of resistance training on pain, strength, and function in osteoarthritis: Systematic review and meta-analysis’, Journal of Personalized Medicine, 14(12), p. 1130. doi:10.3390/jpm14121130.
Robertson, M.M. and O’Neill, M.J. (2003) ‘Reducing musculoskeletal discomfort: Effects of an office ergonomics workplace and training intervention’, International Journal of Occupational Safety and Ergonomics, 9(4), pp. 491–502. doi:10.1080/10803548.2003.11076585.
Stanisic, N. et al. (2022) ‘Pain’s adverse impact on training-induced performance and neuroplasticity: A systematic review’, Brain Imaging and Behavior, 16(5), pp. 2281–2306. doi:10.1007/s11682-021-00621-6.
