Body and rehabilitation

Pain is not a starting point

31 mei 2026 · 1 min lezen

Most people only start training at the moment something is wrong. The back protests. The knees send signals. The energy has been gone for months. And then they decide to do something.

That is understandable. It is also one of the most treacherous starting points there is.

When you start from pain, from damage, from compensation, your first reference point is the absence of pain. That sounds like a logical goal. It is almost always too low.

No pain is not the same as being functional. Not being tired is not the same as having energy. Not being ill is not the same as being healthy.

The problem with starting below zero is that everything above zero already feels like success. And so you stay too long in the mediocre zone. Functional enough. Not bad. But never really strong either.

Pain can be the trigger. The moment you say: this is enough, something new starts here. But it must never be the end point.

You do not build a strong foundation by taking pain away. You build it by putting up something strong enough to absorb the next impact.

Geschreven door Réangelo Willems, RW Coaching.