How can you tell when pain is damaging you?

How can you tell when joint pain is making you stronger and when it is permanently damaging you? When I do exercises such as muscle ups I often feel some pain in my elbows. Should I consider this to be a necessary part of the strengthening process, or is it something more serious?

Hello LJoll,

After me pain in the joints never makes you stronger.

Be careful and check your form when you do muscle-ups.

no pain = no gain is totaly wrong!

pain is always bad (relating to training/exercises).

there is no reason to train with pain :roll:

The ability to discriminate between strain and pain is something that comes with time. Unfortunately the only way to gain long term experience, is by making poor decisions in the short term :cry:. There is however an easy way to help distinguish between the two; if it is strain (fatigue from exercise), the discomfort will begin to dissipate as soon as you finish the set. The longer you wait, the better you continue to feel.

If it is pain (injury from the exercise), it will continue to grow in intensity - DESPITE your having concluded the set. The longer you wait, the worse you will continue to feel.

Bottom line; if you are feeling pain during your workouts, whether during flexibility work or conditioning work, you are exceeding your current limits. Step back, re-evaluate and begin again with either easier movements or lower your intensity. Rome was not built in a day and neither will your physique be.

Yours in Fitness,

Coach Sommer

Thank you for another informative reply.