The 1-2/10 Pain That's Actually Saving You From Injury

You feel it during hip thrusts. Maybe 2 out of 10 in your lower back. Not enough to stop. Barely enough to mention. So you don't.

Three weeks later, it's a 4. Then a 6. Then you're texting me about "sudden" back pain that came out of nowhere.

Except it didn't come out of nowhere. You ignored your check engine light for three weeks.

Here's what most people get wrong about pain: they think it's binary. Either something hurts enough to matter, or it doesn't hurt at all. But that 1-2/10 discomfort you're dismissing? That's not noise. That's a signal.

Pain as Information, Not Damage

Contemporary pain science tells us that pain is your nervous system's interpretation of threat, not a direct measure of tissue damage. This matters because low-grade discomfort during specific movements isn't your body screaming, "injury imminent." It's your body saying, "Something's off with how you're moving."

Think of it like your car's tire-pressure warning. When that light comes on, you don't have a flat tire. You have slightly low pressure that, if left unchecked, will eventually cause a flat tire. The warning exists so you can address the problem before it becomes damaged.

That 1-2/10 pain during hip thrusts? That's your tire pressure light. Your body is telling you that your positioning is creating stress in places that shouldn't be loaded that way.

The Pattern I See Repeatedly

A client comes to check in. Everything's fine. Training's going well. Then I ask about a specific movement, and there's a pause.

"Well... my lower back feels a little weird during hip thrusts. But it's not bad. Maybe a 2 out of 10."

I ask them to show me the movement. Within seconds, I can see it: they're not tucking their pelvis at the top. Their glutes aren't getting underneath them. The movement looks fine to them because they're hitting depth and moving weight, but their spine is doing work their hips should be doing.

The fix? Adjust positioning. Lighter weight. Slower tempo. Focus on keeping the glutes underneath the body during hip extension. The 1-2/10 pain disappears immediately because we addressed the positioning error that the pain was highlighting.

Why High Performers Ignore This Signal

If you're reading this, you probably have high standards for yourself. You show up. You do the work. You don't make excuses.

And that's precisely why you're vulnerable to this mistake.

You've trained yourself to push through discomfort. That's a valuable skill. But you've also trained yourself to override feedback that would help you train smarter. You're so focused on not being soft that you've stopped distinguishing between productive discomfort (working muscles, cardiovascular stress) and warning signals (something's wrong with execution).

Here's the reality: Acknowledging that 1-2/10 pain and adjusting your positioning doesn't make you weak. It makes you intelligent. It means you're listening to feedback and using it to train more effectively.

The Framework: When to Adjust vs When to Stop

Not all pain requires the same response. Here's how to think about it:

1-2/10 pain that's consistent in a specific movement: This is your body telling you something's off with positioning or execution. Stop. Reassess. Get feedback on your form. Go lighter and slower until you can perform the movement without that feedback signal.

1-2/10 pain that appears at the start of training and diminishes: This is often your nervous system being protective at the beginning of a session. If it genuinely goes away as you warm up and doesn't return, you're fine. But track it. If it starts sticking around or escalating, that's different information.

Pain that escalates during a set or session: Stop immediately. This isn't feedback about positioning anymore. This is your body telling you something isn't ready for the load or volume you're attempting.

Pain that feels different from anything you've experienced: Get it checked. Unknown variables require expert assessment.

What This Looks Like in Practice

Use low-grade discomfort as your cue to slow down and perfect positioning. If going lighter and moving more deliberately eliminates that 1-2/10 feeling, you've just identified and corrected a positioning error before it becomes a problem.

If adjusting positioning and reducing load doesn't eliminate it, that's different information. That might mean the movement itself isn't appropriate for you right now, or there's something else going on that needs attention.

Either way, you've used the pain as information instead of ignoring it until it forced you to stop training entirely.

The Bottom Line

That 1-2/10 pain isn't weakness. It's not something to push through to prove you're tough. It's data. Your body telling you to reassess before you create a problem that takes you out of training for weeks.

Listen to it. Adjust. Keep training.

Or ignore it, and we'll be having a different conversation in three weeks about why you can't train at all.

What's your "doesn't feel right" movement? The one you've been dismissing because it's "not that bad"?

Stay Strong,

Paul Oneid, MS. MS. CSCS

Founder and Head Coach