Pain vs. Discomfort: What’s The Difference?
How to Train Smarter & Build A More Resilient Body
If you’re someone who trains regularly – or is trying to incorporate more movement into your life – there’s a good chance that you’ve encountered some pain, at least once, along the way. But in the fitness world, pain can often be misunderstood. It’s either something that’s ignored, or pushed through, or it’s avoided entirely with the hope it will disappear with sufficient rest or stretching.
The thing is, pain isn’t always a sign of danger or damage. And it’s not always a reason to stop moving altogether. Instead, it can be your body’s way of telling you that something isn’t quite right. But how do we know whether to keep training through pain or not? This is where understanding the difference between pain and discomfort becomes crucial.
To better understand the nuances of pain, plus the art of longevity and performance, we spoke with Personal Trainer Dan McCarroll, whose career so far has taken him from professional dance to competitive CrossFit, and now working with clients at the intersection of movement, rehab and healthcare. Having experienced some life-changing injuries himself, he deeply understands the need not solely for the physical rehab process of dealing with pain, but also the psychological process.
For many people, particularly those navigating pain, ageing or reduced mobility, the fitness world can feel out of reach – either too intense or not built with them in mind. Dan’s work now focuses on this group of people, helping them to reclaim their physical capacity and performance by understanding the benefits of exercise for older adults and how strength, mobility, and smart, relevant programming can transform their lives.
Here he offers some guidelines and rules around working out in pain, how we can build long-term resilience, and importantly – why it’s important to be able to understand pain.
Understanding Pain vs. Discomfort
We often hear the phrase "listen to your body" – but how many of us really know how to do this? Particularly when it comes to both pain and discomfort, which are often lumped together as the same thing. The reality is that they’re very different experiences, and it’s important to learn to distinguish between them.
Dan explains that discomfort is a normal part of training – feeling your muscles working, your heart rate rising, or fatigue setting in. Pain, however, is more insistent and often linked to compensations in your movement. “If pain changes the way you move, that’s when we need to be cautious,” he says.
He uses a simple tool: the pain scale. “If 0 is no pain at all, and 10 is the most excruciating pain you’ve felt, you don’t want to ever be feeling more than a 4 out of 10 during your training. However, if any pain begins to change the way you move, we always want to modify it before removing it. For example, if you get a slight knee pain when squatting and it’s at a 4 out of 10, but then it gets worse – rather than stop squatting altogether, either reduce the load or reduce the range of motion. If it gets better, great – we can continue. Always look to modify before avoiding.“
Pain can also be misleading. “It’s not always about tissue damage. It might be poor sleep, high stress, or even not recovering enough. The context really matters,” says Dan. He encourages a more nuanced approach, which includes assessments rather than assumptions. “You need to understand the body’s full story. What’s going on at the joint? What’s your training history? Even something like discomfort when going to the toilet, or balance and stability changes, can point to bigger issues.”
So don’t jump to conclusions at the first hint of pain. Be curious – is it existing in isolation or are there other lifestyle factors involved?
Common Mistakes People Make When Training with Pain
It’s simply a myth that pain always means injury, and therefore that pushing through is either brave or necessary. Dan disagrees. “Pain is a signal, not a stop sign,” he says. “The biggest mistake I see is people either ignoring pain and hoping it’ll go away, or stopping everything when they don’t need to.”
So how do you know what to do?
“It comes back to asking better questions: When does the pain happen? Is it only during certain movements? Does it get worse, or stay the same? If pain shows up at the start of a session, your body might not be ready yet. If it shows up at the end, then maybe that muscle needs to be able to be stronger for longer, so therefore we’d look at more muscle or stability endurance. The pattern of the pain really matters.”
And just because it hurts on the right side doesn’t mean the right side is the issue. “You might need to look above, below, or even on the other side,” Dan says. “Where the pain is, isn’t necessarily where the problem is. We need to test and learn.”
There’s also the now much more common societal issue of glorifying certain types of pain. “We’ve come to normalise DOMS (delayed onset muscle soreness), which is a type of pain, as a good thing. But when it comes to ‘pain’ as such, it freaks us out. Why is one okay and the other alarming?” The difference, he says, is understanding what your body is trying to say, and making sure you have the knowledge and support to respond in a way that builds physical resilience and progress, rather than frustration or burnout.
How to Build Long-Term Resilience
1. You Can’t Bulletproof Your Body
As much as we’d all love to, the truth is, you can’t bulletproof your body. “Anyone promising that is lying,” Dan says. “You can train smart, build strength, and prepare your body, but injuries can still happen. You might step off a kerb and roll your ankle, or lift something heavy in the garden and hurt your back. So unfortunately we can’t completely avoid pain or injury, but we can learn how to adapt.”
2. Start With The Foundations
The first step to building long-term resilience and performance, as we mentioned earlier, is assessing the context of the pain, and whether your sleep, diet and/or stress are affecting how you move and function. “We need to actively try and improve on all of these things, in addition to any movement limitations, or flexibility and mobility issues. We can then train in a way that prepares us if pain does become an issue.” We will enable ourselves to train smarter, not harder and prepare the body not just for performance, but for day-to-day resilience and longevity.
3. Resilience Starts With The Mind
The next thing to focus on is your mindset, and how to navigate pain when it arises. “Working through flare-ups is a big part of the injury process,” says Dan. “Have a mindset of not stopping when you feel pain, because there are always things you can do to allow you to keep moving, such as modifying. This helps with not just the healing, but also your mental health.”
4. Reframe The Narrative
Language also plays a huge part in how you see your current situation. “It’s easy to succumb to things that everyone says as they age, such as ‘I’m just getting old,’ but you have a chance to reframe this. You don’t have to be another future statistic of being an elderly person who has a fall – you can do something different. We can make this the norm by not allowing language to seep into our mindset, but rather asking – what can I do today that will make me stronger tomorrow?”
5. Train With Intention
Lastly, it comes down to consistency and intention. This is where the idea of physical fitness and resilience comes into play – training in ways that carry over into everyday life. “We need to train in ways that prepare us for life – whether that’s picking up a heavy suitcase of going skiing with your kids and grandkids.” Dan’s non-negotiables for this? “Breathwork. It’s so valuable for building strength, dealing with pain or managing stress – it has a place everywhere. Physically, if you’re in a position that’s uncomfortable and you need to get out of it, use breathwork as a first tool to tell yourself you’re ok in that position. It will help you to loosen up and either give you more access to the position, or allow you to come out of it safely.”
6. Don’t Skip The Prep
Proper warm-ups are also non-negotiable. “People jump straight into movements or do redundant movements that don’t serve a purpose. For example, if I’m squatting and I have an ankle limitation, I need to address warming up the ankles before I squat. Likewise, if I’m going for a run and know I have stability issues, I need to address that beforehand and tell my body what I’m about to do. Always ask yourself what you need to do to ensure you’re going to get the most out of your session.”
7. Balance: Not Just For Yoga
And if balance or coordination is something you struggle with, particularly as you get older, now is the time to address it. Knowing how to improve your balance as you age can play a crucial role in injury prevention, stability, and overall quality of life.
Remember - discomfort doesn’t mean danger. And pain, whilst frustrating, doesn’t have to sideline your progress. Understanding your body, knowing what different signals mean, and being aware of how you uniquely move – are all really powerful tools to be able to continue to train at any age, through any challenge. Know that stopping when you feel pain doesn’t necessarily contribute to longevity, but rather seek the right support, find smart adaptations, and build a mindset that is focused on the long-term goal.
Don’t Let Pain Hold You Back.
Whether you're training through discomfort or coming back from injury, there are always smart ways to keep moving and making progress. Start applying what you've learned today – or better yet, come train with us. Browse our adventures here.