Notes from the Road | 003
Welcome back to Notes from the Road. Today I want to talk about one of the questions I hear more than almost any other, from physical therapy patients and personal training clients alike: "Should I keep going, or should I stop?"
It's a fair question, and it deserves a real answer instead of a shrug. So let's unpack it.
Pain and Soreness Are Not the Same Thing
The first distinction I make with every client is the difference between pain and soreness. They get lumped together constantly, but to me, as a physical therapist, they're two very different signals.
Soreness is typically a dull, generalized sensation. It shows up after you've asked your muscles to do something new or something more than usual, and it tends to ease as you warm up and move. Pain is different. It's often sharper, more localized, and it tends to behave differently with movement; sometimes it gets worse the more you move, or it shows up suddenly during a specific motion.
Learning to tell these two apart is the first skill I want every client to build, because it changes how you should respond.
Pain Doesn't Always Mean Damage
Here's the part that surprises most people: pain, by itself, is not a reliable indicator of injury or tissue damage. Your nervous system is complex, and plenty of factors can turn up the volume on pain (stress, sleep, past experiences, fear of movement) without there being significant damage happening in the tissue.
That doesn't mean pain should be ignored. It means pain is information, not a verdict. The real question isn't just "does it hurt," it's "what is this pain doing, and what's the trend?" That's where the stoplight scale comes in.
The Stoplight Scale
I ask clients to rate their pain on a zero-to-ten scale, then use that number like a stoplight to guide the decision to keep going or pull back.
Green light: zero to three. This range is generally safe to continue with what you're doing. A little discomfort in this zone is common and usually not a red flag.
Yellow light: four to six. This is a caution zone. It's often okay to continue, but it's time to pay closer attention. I want clients to ask where their intensity started, how quickly it climbed, and where it seems to be heading. That trend tells you far more than the number itself.
Red light: seven to ten. This is a stop-and-assess zone. At this level, I want clients to stop what they're doing and dig into what's driving it: what movement triggered it, what else has been going on physically or otherwise, and whether it's a new pattern or a familiar one.
Why the Trend Line Matters at Every Light
The number alone only tells part of the story. What matters just as much is the trend line: where the pain started, how fast it's climbing, and whether it's settling back down or continuing to build.
A three that's been steady all week behaves very differently than a three that was a zero an hour ago and is still climbing. The same logic applies at every level of the scale, not just yellow. A rapidly rising trend deserves more caution than the raw number might suggest, and a stable or improving trend, even in the yellow zone, often means it's fine to continue with awareness.
A Personal Example: A Six-Mile Run
Let me give you an example from my own life. I'm a runner, and like most runners, I don't always start a run feeling perfect. Some days I'll notice a bit of ankle pain, hip pain, or knee pain in the first mile. I'm aware of it. I make a mental note of it. But I don't panic and assume the worst.
That's not because I'm ignoring my body. It's because I know pain alone doesn't mean something is torn or damaged. Instead of spiraling into fear, I run it through the same framework I just described. Where did it start? How intense is it? Is it climbing, holding steady, or fading as I warm up?
I remember one run in particular. Right out of the gate, I noticed some fairly moderate pain, maybe a three or four, creeping toward a five. By my own stoplight, that's a yellow, so I kept going. I hit the one-mile mark, then a mile and a half, and the pain was fading and nearly gone. I went on to finish a really solid six-mile run, felt great the rest of the day, and had no pain afterward.
If I'd stopped at the very first twinge, I would have missed out on that entire run for nothing. Because I paid attention to the trend instead of reacting to the first sensation, I got the benefit of the workout and never had an issue.
That's the whole point of this tool. It's not about ignoring pain, and it's not about being afraid of it either. It's about responding to it with information instead of panic.
A Tool for When I'm Not in the Room
I built this framework because I can't be with my clients every hour of every day. Between our sessions, you're the one deciding whether to push through a workout, modify it, or back off entirely. The stoplight gives you a simple, repeatable way to make that call without needing to text me every time something feels off.
It won't replace a conversation when something is genuinely concerning, but it gives you a reliable first filter. Green, keep going. Yellow, proceed with attention to the trend. Red, stop and figure out what's going on before continuing.
Bringing It Together
Pain and soreness are different. Pain alone doesn't tell you whether there's damage. And a simple zero-to-ten scale, paired with attention to the trend, can help you make smarter decisions in the moment, whether you're in a PT session, in the gym, or out on a run.
My goal is always the same: to help you understand your own body well enough that you can make confident decisions, with or without me standing next to you.
Ready to get started? Call or text (785) 410-1823, or request a visit and I will be in touch.
Until next time, keep moving, and consider using the stoplight framework to help guide your activity.