Personal Training Series: Ignoring pain

The human body has a pain sensing system. This system is designed to preserve the body and prevent long term damage. In training the body responds to stimuli and training pain needs to be overcome. However, there is a limit, and it is important to understand for your own body what that limit is.

I saw a documentary on television where a young boy had no pain sensing system. He would go to school and ask his friends to punch him in the stomach; he pretended he was superman because he felt no pain. One day his parents noticed bruising and swelling around his legs and abdomen, and took him to hospital. The doctors discovered he had severe internal haemorrhaging from being punched too much. This young boy’s lack of a pain sensing system could have led to his death.

Another documentary showed scientists trying to reproduce the pain sensing system in the body because it is so important for preserving life. With all the technology and advances in science today they were unable to replicate the system. It is highly complex and adapts to its changing environment. We need it to learn what not to do, what we can do, and what is dangerous.

In training, if we ignore pain completely then injuries often occur. It is important to put in perspective what you are doing, the experience you’ve had in training, and what you think your body can do – you must have realistic limitations as to how much pain you will withstand.

Be sensible and listen to your body. Focus on gradual increase in loading in training, and be happy with steady progress in your training goals. Aim long term rather than short term. Keep in touch with your physiotherapist and trainer to guide you through this process and avoid injury.

It is not much fun being injured and in the long run ignoring pain from an injury will make your training time longer. Get your body assessed by a physiotherapist and work with a personal trainer to prevent injury and to enjoy your training.

The ‘Integrated Approach to Functional Change’ Physiotherapy Course

I completed my final weekend of the “Integrated Approach for Facilitating Change” course. This was run over 15 days over a 9 month period and brought together the previous training on treating and assessing the low back, neck and shoulder.  The final 4 days of training focussed on an entire approach of assessing injuries and included the  lower limb.

This approach identified the cause of the problem and got rapid results with fast effective techniques. I was able to see clearly how the foot should function in gait and how  ideal movement and alignment of joints can relieve pain. Functional rehabilitation was a key component in relieving pain and preventing pain from returning.

After the weekend I treated a man with hamstring pain. I assessed his rib cage and identified a problem. With correction of this problem he could touch his toes, sit and flex forward and straighten his knee and replicate kicking a rugby ball with no hamstring pain. He has had a second treatment and he is about to start cycling again.

I treated a triathlete with pain in his shoulder from catching his daughter in a swimming pool. He could not ride in profile position because pain extended down his arm and became too intense. I treated his rib cage and taught him how to suspend his body and he could ride with no pain after 1 session.

These are two of the changes I have made with effective long term results. I plan to specialise in treating Ironman athletes. These athletes need fast relief of pain and also to continue training.  My skills enable me to treat all other areas of body. To be truly effective the patient must comply with instructions and complete the treatment.

If you are interested in what I do contact me on mail@physical-edge.com