You’ve heard it a thousand times. Push through it. Pain means progress. If it doesn’t hurt, you’re not working hard enough.

For a lot of runners, that mindset feels like grit. It’s part of what got you through the last kilometre of a long run, or the final set on tired legs. Whatever brought you here, welcome. Let’s break it down.

“No Pain, No Gain,” Explained Simply

The phrase has a real basis in training physiology. Building endurance, strength and speed all involve stressing your body enough that it adapts. Muscle fatigue, breathlessness, the burn in your legs on a hill rep, these are normal parts of pushing your fitness forward.

The problem is when that same mindset gets applied to a different kind of pain altogether. The sharp, localised, or persistent kind that shows up in a joint, tendon or bone. That’s not your body building fitness. That’s your body sending a warning.

It’s not weakness to listen to it. It’s how you stay training.

Two Different Kinds of Pain

Learning to tell these apart is one of the more useful skills an endurance athlete can build.

1. Training discomfort.

This is the generalised fatigue and effort you feel during a hard session. It tends to be symmetrical, it fades within a day or two, and it doesn’t change how you move or run.

2. Injury pain.

This is different. It’s often on one side, it tends to sit at a specific point, and it doesn’t ease off with a normal warm up. It might get worse as a session goes on rather than better, or it might still be there the next morning. This is the pain that pushing through tends to make worse, not better.

3. Why the distinction matters.

Training discomfort responds to rest and recovery. Injury pain responds to rest and, usually, some form of treatment. Treating the second kind like the first is where a lot of avoidable injuries start.

Why Pushing Through the Wrong Pain Backfires

Endurance sports reward consistency over intensity. A runner who trains steadily for months will almost always outperform one who trains hard for three weeks and then spends six weeks injured.

When pain that signals an injury gets ignored, it rarely resolves on its own mid training block. Minor tendon irritation can become a more significant tendinopathy. A stress reaction can progress toward a stress fracture. What might have been a week off becomes months out, along with everything that comes with a forced break: lost fitness, disrupted racing plans, and often the frustration that makes it harder to build the habit back up again.

The mindset built to chase performance is often the thing that ends up costing it.

What to Watch For

A few signs it’s worth paying attention to rather than pushing through:

• Pain that’s on one side or in one specific spot, rather than general fatigue
• Pain that doesn’t ease off after a normal warm up
• Pain that’s still there, or worse, the next morning
• A niggle that’s been present, on and off, for more than two weeks
• Any change to how you’re running to avoid discomfort

It’s important to note that some discomfort is a normal part of endurance training, and not every niggle needs treatment. What matters is knowing which of these signs applies to you, and not waiting until it’s made the decision for you.

What to Expect at Frame Osteopathy

When endurance athletes come through our door, we’re not just treating the pain in front of us. We’re trying to understand the training pattern that led there.

That might mean identifying where in your gait or strength a niggle is coming from, adjusting a training load in the short term, or simply giving you a clearer sense of what’s safe to push through and what isn’t. You’ll leave with a clear plan, not just relief in the moment.

We’re also evidence-based. Our approach is grounded in current research on load management and endurance training, not on the idea that discomfort is something to just push past.

Do I Need to Already Be Injured to Come In?

No. A lot of the runners we see come in with a niggle rather than a full injury. Catching something early is usually the difference between a few days of modified training and a few months off.

Is Some Discomfort during Training Normal?

Yes. General fatigue, breathlessness and muscle burn are a normal part of endurance training. What’s worth attention is pain that’s localised, one-sided, or doesn’t ease with a warm up.

As former elite rowers, runners and coaches, this is an area close to home. Some of the best performances I’ve seen came from athletes who knew when to back off, not just when to push on.

We’re located at 37 Lynch Street, Hawthorn, just off Glenferrie Road. No referral needed.

Book online here, or give us a call on 03 9961 6000 if you’d like to chat first.