# How normal is it to train with pain?

**URL:** <https://forum.barbellmedicine.com/t/how-normal-is-it-to-train-with-pain/12863>\
**Category:** Pain & Rehab Forum \[Moderated\]\
**Created:** [September 20, 2022, 9:54pm UTC](https://forum.barbellmedicine.com/t/how-normal-is-it-to-train-with-pain/12863 "2022-09-20T21:54:25Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Lorenz\_B](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d78d45/32.png) [@Lorenz\_B](https://forum.barbellmedicine.com/u/Lorenz_B)\
**Post date:** [September 20, 2022, 9:54pm UTC](https://forum.barbellmedicine.com/t/how-normal-is-it-to-train-with-pain/12863/1 "2022-09-20T21:54:25Z")

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Hey, guys!

I’m a -120kg powerlifter and started training about ten years ago. This year I was able to perform a 312.5kg deadlift, a 210kg bench and a 260kg squat (in training). Sadly I managed to reaggravate an old back injury with new symptoms not only once but twice in one year. Every one of these reaggravations sets me back at the very least a month before I am able to hit close to PR weight again.  
Since injuries/pain seem to be the main factor that holds me back from progressing, I am trying to figure out how to reduce the risk of injury and what role pain plays in training.

A simplified injury mechanism (doing too much, too quickly or too heavy) make sense for injury prevention. The problem that I am facing is that I have much more training sessions where I can feel some sort of pain that inhibits me in force output than sessions in which i feel that force production is limiting me. So I have a couple of questions for the readers:

1. **How much pain is reasonable for training?**
2. **Do you reduce load/volume as soon as you see a pain pattern** (e.g. repeated shoulder pain for many weeks with bench pressing)?
3. **Do you just ignore pain as long as it does not get worse?**
4. **Is lifting without pain even a reasonable goal?** (in this case I mean joint pain etc. not just the general feel of heavy training being hard)
5. **Do you ignore painful warmups as long as the heavy working sets feel okay?** I have noticed over the years, that a proper mindset (and banging music) before starting a lift can supress pain during heavy sets. But since I get hurt so often, I wonder if I am going in the wrong direction with this strategy.

Sorry for the wall-of-text.  
Best regards,  
Lorenz