Upcoming Podcast — A summary of Pain Free Ability Training

On Thursday I will be a guest on a podcast to talk about pain free training so it seemed appropriate to use this week’s entry to contemplate the specifics about what I think on this topic — helping both myself and you the reader understand what we are trying to accomplish.

At a high level — it’s pretty simple: your joints have ranges of motion, we ought to be strong through those ranges of motion. Lacking range introduces opportunity for injury. Lacking control through range introduces opportunity for injury. “Get stronger and more flexible” is at the root of nearly every training recommendation for sport, rehabilitation and life function.

When you start doing research on training protocols for just about anything (bunions, spina bifida, acl rehab, joint replacement, tendonitis…you name it) you will read endless amounts about the underlying physiology, the genetic factors, the constraints in activity and tucked neatly into the closing thoughts on nearly every topic you will find something like this:

Progressive strengthening and flexibility training is recommended to improve outcomes

So what’s new? What’s contentious? Why are you even receiving this newsletter if this is so boring, baseline and universal?

Part of it is precisely that — we yearn for the novel. We want there to be a specific magic bullet. We hope for a quick and easy cure. And in doing so, practitioners will deliver. So every half a decade or so the wheel gets reinvented.

I will be the first to own the irony of being a “kneeseovertoesguy coach” and writing what I just wrote.

But there is a double layer of irony in that most of which gets proposed under this “new” umbrella is actually old. The novel contribution, in my estimation, is to go back in the chronicles of exercise and dig up what has worked best. Some of the movements utilized are very old — Bob Gadja was proposing Tibialis Raises in the 60s. There are tenants of yoga emphasizing deep knee bend and full range of motion squats that are quite literally drawings that pre-date cameras. The “ATG Split Squat” is a rebranding of the Bulgarian Split Squat was utilized in the 80s by the Bulgarian Weightlifting Team to dominate the world of Olympic Weightlifting.

So it isn’t so much what is “shiny and new” but a flipping through the annals of exercise history to find the “truths” of human ability — and thus the Athletic Truth Group was born. Sprinkle in a dash of social media excellence and you have “new” stuff that no one has ever heard of!

But there is a triple entendre of sorts baked right into “Pain Free Ability Training” as well.

1 — Can we heal painful joints?

This is probably the most controversial among the claims made by coaches like myself and tends to spark the ire of the fitness community. Controversial because the movements used are sometimes incongruent with the “standard of care” when addressing things like a meniscus tear. Though hardly anyone makes the statement that joints are immutable stony objects that cannot change, they often bristle at the movements we choose to undertake this process. My experience in the gym with these types of movements has been overwhelmingly positive. The feedback directed at the ATG, Kneesovertoesguy and ATG Coaches from success in this area is wildly favorable.

2 — Can we train pain free?

This is the low-key most important element, in my estimation. To me, the question isn’t whether or not we can train pain free but if we choose to. “No Pain, no gain” adorns tshirts, banners, Instagram feeds and all manner of public facing fitness communication. We grit through pain to our detriment. A huge part of “pain free training” is literally undertaking activities that don’t cause pain and ceasing the activity if it starts to hurt. This is the biggest upside of embracing a pain free mentality and the one people struggle with most. Let me assure you with no wavering — you CAN select movements, train them with intent and complete an entire workout without pain. Pain is NOT a prerequisite for progress. It isn’t easy, it takes some guidance and thought process but it is entirely possible.

3 — Can we prevent future injuries?

This is the second most controversial element because the literature simply isn’t there (at least to my understanding it is not). How would you even measure this? How would you study it? For this we have to go to our own observations in the field.

Those with high ability in strength, flexibility and overall structural balance tend to have more longevity. What movements can we use to inspire this? What movements will erode this? What abilities are necessary in sport? In being a caregiver? In being an office worker? In being a dentist? “Strength training for dentists” isn’t really a thing — I think it should be. They have demands, repetitive stress and are subjected to environmental wear and tear that is unique from being a underwater welder or factory worker.

Having spent 11 years on the gym floor observing all of the above, I can give you my net observations, but this isn’t something that is going to hold up when people demand scientific proof. However, given everything mentioned above about success I am now at a juncture where I am too successful with this stuff to deny that there is a there there. By simply sharing what has happened with myself and my clients, more and more people want to get this level of training in their repertoire — and as they have success, they naturally refer their friends and family. I’m afraid the literature simply has some catching up to do.

In summary, “Pain Free Ability Training” has little to do with the movements per se — you could recklessly pursue any of them and find yourself worse off than when you started. The major upside is reframing of principles and intent. The reframe will always be the great opportunity within a largely static field — there aren’t that many truly new discoveries about exercise or nutrition. There is simply increasing nuanced being discovered about what we already know. Redefining our purpose and goals (and tailoring this to the individual) has enormous upside and isn’t talked about nearly enough.

My advice to anyone who is skeptical about this process is to first embrace the idea that improving your tissue is possible and with that resolution you will experience less pain. That by revising the intent of your training and scaling activities to their pain free level for yourself is the key to unlocking that door. And finally that by increasing your capacity across longer ranges of motion you can hedge against the chaos of life activities and find yourself more injury resistance, in less pain more often and able to enjoy the activities that you love.