Medical care and warning signs

These notes combine advice from 19 reviewed passages across 15 workouts.

Overview

Coach’s advice

Pain is a working signal in training, but not every ache means the same thing. Some discomfort shows that muscles are working and getting stronger, while other pain warns of a problem that needs attention. The practical skill is telling the two apart.

Coach’s advice

Some body signals matter more than others. Numbness, pain on the sides, or the absence of pain altogether are the ones to take seriously. Acute injuries need careful handling, and certain symptoms call for a medical check even when they seem mild.

Pain as a signal

Coach’s advice

Not feeling pain is a bad trait. People with damaged nerve networks can lose the ability to feel pain, and they have to go to the doctor about once a month for checkups. Without pain, there is no way to know where to stop.

Coach’s advice

During bridge work, always feel a small pain. Even when you do a lot of bridges, always try to feel that small pain.

Coach’s advice

Grip fatigue is normal. When holding something, the energy drops and the grip starts to slip, and that is acceptable as long as there is no numbness, the muscle does not stay rigid after you let go, and you can still move it comfortably. Numbness or a muscle that stays stiff is the sign to stop.

Coach’s advice

A back issue that comes and goes in short episodes and then disappears completely is not a major concern. When it behaves this way, there is no need to overthink it.

Front and back pain versus side pain

Coach’s advice

Pain in the front or back is not a big problem. It tends to pass after one or two workouts, and soreness in the muscular areas being worked can show that the muscles are getting stronger.

Coach’s advice

Pain on the sides is treated differently. It is considered a problem, partly because there is more moving tissue there, and it should be reported immediately.

When to seek medical care

Coach’s advice

Teeth are the one part of the body that cannot heal on their own. Everywhere else has some self-healing capacity, but a tooth does not, so dental problems require a doctor’s visit.

Coach’s advice

Back pain that is significant should be checked. One possibility is that something is pressing on the lungs or ribcage.

Coach’s advice

Listen to your doctor. Problems often start when someone does not follow the doctor’s instructions.

Coach’s advice

An extremely shredded physique is not automatically a sign of health. Extreme leanness can be associated with kidney failure.

First aid for acute injuries

Coach’s advice

Basic first aid for an injured limb starts with checking what moves. Ask the person to move the toes, feel the area with your hands, and look for a dislocation or fracture. The absence of a visible fracture or dislocation does not rule out a muscle tear or strained ligaments.

Coach’s advice

Do not try to put a dislocated joint back into place on the spot. You cannot know whether it is broken or what happened inside, and forcing it can strain the injured tissue further and cause more pain. Wait for medical help.

Coach’s advice

Even if the injured area looks fine minutes later and the person says they feel okay, still have it checked. A muscle can be strained even when nothing looks displaced, and imaging such as an MRI may be needed to see the damage.

Recovery after a strain

Coach’s advice

For a pulled muscle, apply cold and heat.

Body signals during training

Coach’s advice

Spleen swelling can act as a stop signal. The body uses it to tell you to stop, and someone who does not get that signal can keep going past the limit and end up worse.

Coach’s advice

Hard breathing can produce its own symptoms. After about 30 minutes of forceful exhaling, the head can start to hurt and spin.

Coach’s experience

In his own experience, after a car crash, he got up, felt fine, and saw no visible injury, but he feared internal bleeding and went directly to the hospital, where he was examined from head to toe.

The same crash showed how adrenaline can hide injury. His wrist pain and old aches disappeared and he walked normally, but about an hour and a half later he began limping with severe pain in the Achilles tendon. He explains the delay by the large amount of epinephrine his body had released during the crash.

Related pages

• Adaptation and soreness: Contrasts with
• Pain response and training modification: Often discussed together