Outside of a serious acute injury, the biggest thing that helps reduce pain is simply moving whatever you're able to move. Pain is biopsychosocial, meaning it's influenced by psychological factors, not just physical damage. Training the uninjured side of your body during an injury can even help the injured side recover faster, through what's called the cross-education effect.
When something hurts, the instinct is to stop moving entirely and wait until it feels better. Jonathan Hoch, a coach specializing in injury prevention, explains why that instinct often works against you, and shares a specific strategy that can genuinely speed up recovery.
Pain Is Biopsychosocial, Not Just Physical
Research shows pain is influenced by biological, psychological, and social factors together, not purely by tissue damage. Sometimes a person's pain is more psychological than physical, weakness in a joint might reflect a genuine physical issue, or it might reflect the nervous system protecting an area out of fear, even without ongoing tissue damage.
The biggest thing in research we see is that pain is biopsychosocial. If we can teach people how to move when they're in pain and how to deal with it, that's better than getting that person out of pain, because pain's going to come back.
The Cast Story: Move What You Can Move
Jonathan shares a memorable example: a client fractured her ankle over the weekend before her Monday session. When he checked in, expecting she'd need to cancel, she mentioned she was already having someone drive her to work. His response: her arms still worked fine, so there was still valuable training she could do, even in a cast.
The Cross-Education Effect
Here's the specific finding that surprises most people: studies show that if you injure one arm, say your left wrist, and continue training your uninjured right arm, your left arm actually adapts slightly too. It experiences less muscle atrophy and recovers strength more easily once you're able to train it again.
This means training around an injury isn't just about staying active for its own sake, it can genuinely improve the outcome of the injured side itself, through neurological pathways shared between the two limbs.
Working With Chronic, Ongoing Pain
For pain that's chronic rather than a fresh injury, Jonathan describes working through a careful assessment process, especially with remote clients, to figure out what someone can still do safely, sometimes starting a squat at a much higher, easier box height than they'd like, and gradually progressing from there.
He shares an example of a woman in her 70s who once thought she'd never squat again due to joint pain, eventually working up to a 40-pound squat, which he notes is genuinely impressive and functional for daily life at that age.
- Pain is biopsychosocial, influenced by psychological and social factors, not just physical tissue damage alone.
- Outside of a serious acute injury, movement generally helps more than complete rest.
- The cross-education effect means training an uninjured limb can help the injured limb retain strength and recover faster.
- Starting at an easier variation, like a higher box height for a squat, and progressing gradually works even with chronic joint pain.
- Being able to lift 40 to 50 pounds is genuinely functional and impressive for daily life, even for someone in their 70s.
If pain has you sidelined right now, the goal isn't necessarily eliminating it entirely, it's learning how to keep moving through it safely. That approach tends to produce better long-term outcomes than waiting it out completely still.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does it mean that pain is biopsychosocial?
It means pain isn't purely a physical signal, it's influenced by biological, psychological, and social factors together. Fear and expectation around an injury can genuinely affect how much pain someone experiences, alongside the actual physical tissue damage.
Should you completely stop moving if something hurts?
Generally no, outside of a serious acute injury like a significant tendon or ligament tear. For most pain, movement tends to help more than complete rest, and finding what you can still do, even in a modified way, supports better outcomes than stopping entirely.
Does training an uninjured limb help an injured one recover?
Yes, this is called the cross-education effect. Studies show that training your uninjured arm or leg while the other is injured can help the injured limb retain more strength and experience less muscle loss during the recovery period.
How much weight can most people expect to lift as they age, for daily life purposes?
For most activities of daily living, being able to squat or lift around 40 to 50 pounds is considered quite functional and impressive, even for someone in their 70s who previously experienced significant joint pain.
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