When exercising, or doing rehab exercises, some pain or discomfort is normal and to be expected. In fact, if you don’t feel any discomfort then you are not stressing the tissues to stimulate an adaptation response. But how much pain or discomfort is acceptable? We can use the traffic light analogy, where on a numeric pain rating scale (0 being no pain, 10 being the worst pain) you can judge how much you are feeling and whether it is safe to continue.

0-3/10 - Perfectly fine, carry on.

4-5/10 - It’s ok, you don’t need to worry, but proceed with caution. Perhaps do slightly less intensity or volume next time.

6-10/10 - This is too much pain and not helpful. Stop what you’re doing and change the exercise / volume / intensity to get you back to doing your exercises in the 0-3/10 zone.