I Love Anatomy – SRL

Pain

This is a loaded word with many meanings and interpretations. What pain is and how it is felt depends on the person experiencing it. For the sake of clarity, pain falls into a spectrum. Good pain on one side and bad pain on the other.

“Good pain” is the discomfort caused by muscle fatigue. Muscle fatigue is the point at which the muscle fibers can no longer contract. Nerves are still stimulating the fibers to contract but the fibers aren’t responding – either because they’ve exhausted their energy reserves or there is a build up of lactic acid. This is good. Strength can be developed as a result of good pain.

“Bad pain” is the pain that sears, tears, burns and just feels bad. It makes us think, ‘why did I sign up for this?’ It is the kind of pain that is sensitive 5-6 days post yoga class. It is also the kind of pain that makes you clench your jaw, hold your breath and hold tension in your body.

My mantra to all my students is, “move in your pain free range of motion.” And, if you have constant pain, “move in the range that your pain symptoms don’t increase.”

Remember: If you move in pain you are telling your nervous system that this is an appropriate way to move. If you truly want to get out of pain, the fastest and most effective way is to give your nervous system a different “input”. Do it. I promise that your body will shift.

Fast Fact … DOMS: Delayed onset muscle soreness: This post-yoga/post activity soreness can come on 1-4 days post activity. It should be cleared out of your system by day 5. If it isn’t, you know you have pushed too hard.