If You're in Pain, Don't Stop Moving

Exercise is your ally, not your enemy!

If you're experiencing pain and wondering whether to rest or move, you're not alone. As a rehabilitation specialist, athlete and coach. I’ve navigated both sides of the treatment table.  

I want to share some insights about how your body actually works—and why movement might be exactly what you need.

The Mobility-Stability Connection

Your body functions as an interconnected system of joints that alternate between mobility and stability. That is joints that have a high degree of movement freedom and joints that are either fixed, or limited in their movement freedom.  This "Joint-by-Joint Approach" explains why problems in one area can create compensation patterns elsewhere:

• Mobile joints: Ankle, hip, thoracic spine, shoulder, wrist

• Stable joints: Knee, lumbar spine, cervical spine, elbow

When a mobile joint loses its natural range of motion, your body will "borrow" movement from a stable joint—often leading to pain and dysfunction. This is why hip tightness often manifests as lower back pain, or shoulder restrictions can affect your neck.

Your Central Nervous System Controls Everything

Pain isn't just about tissues—it's about your nervous system's response. Your CNS controls muscle contractions, relaxation, and neural tone (the resting stimulus level in your muscles). When pain persists, your nervous system becomes hypersensitive, creating protective tension patterns that can actually perpetuate the problem.

Breaking the Pain-Avoidance Cycle

Many lifestyle factors—prolonged sitting, repetitive movements, previous injuries—create dysfunctional movement patterns that your body adapts to. The longer these patterns persist, the more your nervous system "learns" them as normal.

Here's the crucial insight: While rest seems intuitive when you're hurting, strategic movement is often the solution. Proper exercise:

1. Retrains optimal movement patterns

2. Normalizes neural tone in overactive muscles

3. Strengthens stabilizing muscles that may be underperforming

4. Improves tissue resilience and load tolerance

Your Next Steps

The goal isn't excessive mobility (which can reduce stability and strength) but optimal mobility for your specific needs. You need just enough range of motion to perform movements correctly while maintaining appropriate muscle tension for stability.

Don't let pain keep you sedentary—instead, use it as information to guide smarter movement choices. Start slow and progress as you go, starting with exercises that respect your current limitations while progressively challenging your system to adapt.

Remember: Your body is designed to move, and with the right approach, movement becomes your most powerful tool for overcoming pain.

If you don’t remember, about 7 months ago, I tore both my quads.  The best thing I ever did was start moving immediately and doing whatever activity I could and just progressed from there.  Rehab… training… it’s all the same thing, just at different places on the same spectrum.

If you’re dealing with pain and unsure about where to go from here, one of our coaches can absolutely help guide you in the right direction.  Reach out to us on www.masterathletic.com

Paul Oneid, MS. MS. CSCS

Founder and Head Coach