People Move Differently In Pain

"Just 1 more set..."

"Last 10 minutes..."

"Just get through this play..."

These are some common phrases individuals will say to themselves whilst training with injuries! If you’re pushing yourself through a painful movement like a squat, deadlift or even running during a soccer game, you are just adding to your compensation or assisting your body in creating more dysfunctional movement patterns.

Here's the thing, PAIN leads to changes in your movements, and changed movement patterns means there is a redistribution of responsibility between and within surrounding muscles – better understood as 'compensation'. Take a person who has injured their ankle and is in a brace, it isn't uncommon for their lower back or opposite hip to play up due to the increased load placed on it because of the changes they make to avoid pain.

These changes in mechanical behaviour, which may be suitable for short term goals as the body aims to protect the injured area from getting worse, may have long term consequences. These being deeper, more hardwired dysfunctional movements patterns.

Some patients after a painful event, revert back to their normal movement patterns and move on. Other patients still retain the poor motor changes long after the pain has subsided. Thus they must work through and re-learn how to move properly before they return to sport. Otherwise, they will be back in for treatment in no time

Remember, listen to your body. Pain changes movement so don’t train through it, get it sorted.

Any question feel free to ask in the comments below

Upvote and follow :)

Angelo Campanella