Is is rare that someone who trains seriously - as an athlete, for their own well being, a bodybuilder, whatever it may be - will never sustain some sort of injury. Whether that is down to error in training or biomechanical issues.
The phrase 'Train Past the Pain' gets thrown around quite frequently - but you need to know when the pain is an ACTUAL problem & not just you pushing your limits for that extra rep or two.
First & foremost this is based on MY experience & I am not a qualified physician, physiotherapist etc! But I have suffered my fair share of injuries, predominantly due to biomechanical issues. Most recently suprasprinatus tendonitis, impingement & a rotator cuff tear, previous to that issues with my IT band & previous to that issues with my lower back. & constantly, shin splints.
Now I do train through certain 'injuries' & issues I have. Less seriously shin splints - I have been told to rest to prevent shin splints. Six weeks rest. Now for me this does not work. I can rest for six months & still have shin splints. So this is something I just tend to deal with & take preventative measures for (my shin splints are due to tight calves/achilles tendons) - so I just add extra stretching in & try & wear the appropriate shoes as I can shin splints when I WALK let alone run & they really do hurt...
Last year I had pretty severe tendinitis which led to impingement & a tear. For this I did take around 8 weeks off due to the damage it had caused over time leading to a weakening rotator cuff & a lot of pain during upper body training & even just holding weights. I also had around 12 sessions of physiotherapy involving manipulation, massage & ultra sound - as well as doing continuing rehabilitation. However due to the severity of the tendinitis I have scar tissue build up, which means that it can more easily impinge which would then lead to further time off - which would NOT be ideal when preparing for competition or even generally to have to take time off training. So again I need to take preventative measures, a lot of the time I try not to push myself too much regarding the weight I lift for shoulder sessions - instead of trying to lift as heavy as I can I tend to utilize drop sets which tend to work better for me. I also don't train chest full stop, flies & chest press of any kind aggravate the issue 100 times more than ANY other movement. Now some people are against not training one whole muscle group, which is understandable due to muscle imbalance etc - but for me I would rather be able to train than not. I recently received information from Nicole Wilkins (on her members video Q&A) that when she suffered with tendinitis in her shoulder she still trained, however she would only train portions of movements - for example when doing an anterior raise if doing the full movement & range of motion would cause pain, she would train a portion of the movement with less range of motion to avoid it. Though I have been left slightly asymmetrical which needs to be addressed ASAP.
Pain is subjective yes. But YOU know when you're body is aching & sore from killing training, or when something isn't right. & first thing is first, if you are in pain & you don't know why SEE SOMEONE. In my opinion even if it's nothing, better to get it looked at than continue training through an unknown pain & then have to take weeks or months out because of it. & preventative action is always better than fixing the problem after it has occurred. So foam rolling, stretching, sports massage, rest days & just generally listening to your body is SO important.
So don't always TRAIN PAST THE PAIN.
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