Jonathan Smyth-Small Jonathan Smyth-Small

Why Does My Lower Back Pain Keep Coming Back? How Myotherapy in Moorabbin Can Help

You do everything right. You rest it, get a massage, maybe stretch for a week or two. The pain settles, life gets back to normal, and then one day you bend down to pick something up and it's back again.

The good news is that recurring back pain usually has a pattern behind it. Once we find that pattern, we can do something about it.

You do everything right. You rest it, get a massage, maybe stretch for a week or two. The pain settles, life gets back to normal, and then one day you bend down to pick something up and it's back again.

The good news is that recurring back pain usually has a pattern behind it. Once we find that pattern, we can do something about it.

Why lower back pain keeps coming back

Common reasons it keeps coming back include:

  • Treating the symptom, not the cause. Massage, heat and rest feel great, but if that's all you do, the reason your back keeps getting overloaded is still there.

  • Poor load distribution. If your hips, mid back or core aren't pulling their weight, your lower back does the work of three areas. It copes for a while, then it flares.

  • Not enough strength or capacity. Your back needs to handle what you ask of it, whether that's lifting at work, training or sitting at a desk for 8 hours.

  • Stopping too early. Once the pain eases, most people stop. But feeling better and being stronger are two different things.

How myotherapy helps recurrent lower back pain

Myotherapy combines hands-on treatment with assessment, movement and rehabilitation, so we can deal with both the pain and the reason it keeps coming back. I don't believe in hope strategies. I believe in systems.

At Myotherapy PRO in Moorabbin, I use a four-step approach: Assess. Treat. Strengthen. Progress.

1. Assess

We start by working out why your back keeps flaring up. That means looking at how you move, how your load is distributed through your hips, spine and core, and what your work, training and daily routine demand of your body.

2. Treat

Hands-on treatment, including massage and dry needling, can help settle pain, reduce muscle tension and improve how comfortably you move. This is the part that gets you feeling better so you can start doing the work that keeps you there.

3. Strengthen

This is the step that most often gets missed. A progressive strength, mobility and rehab plan builds a back that can handle the demands of your life. It's the difference between a back that is temporarily relieved and one that is more resilient.

4. Progress

We don't stop when the pain stops. We keep progressing your program so your results hold up, whether you're going back to the tools, the desk or the gym.

Who is this for?

Tradies, desk workers, gym-goers and athletes all get the same integrated system, built around what your body needs to do.

I came into this field after working in construction myself. After an injury of my own, I went through the recovery process firsthand while studying myotherapy and continuing to work on site. That experience is a big part of why I focus on real change instead of just short-term relief.

Myotherapy for lower back pain in Moorabbin and surrounding suburbs

Myotherapy PRO is located at 13 Wren Road, Moorabbin, inside Bayside Strength & Recovery. That means you can get hands-on treatment and access to strength and rehab in the one place.

We regularly see people from Moorabbin, Cheltenham, Bentleigh, Highett, Hampton and Sandringham who are sick of their back pain coming back and want a plan that actually works.

When to see your GP first

Most lower back pain is not serious, but some symptoms need medical attention straight away. See your GP or go to an emergency department if your back pain comes with:

  • Loss of bladder or bowel control

  • Numbness around the groin or inner thighs

  • Fever or feeling unwell with the pain

  • Pain following a significant fall or accident

  • Progressive weakness in your legs

Frequently asked questions

What is myotherapy and how is it different from massage?

Myotherapy includes massage, but it also involves clinical assessment, treatments like dry needling, and movement-based rehabilitation. The goal is not only to relieve pain, but to find out why it's happening and address it.

Can myotherapy help with recurring lower back pain?

Myotherapy can be a good option for people with ongoing or recurring lower back pain because it combines hands-on treatment with strength and rehab work. Every person is different, so the first step is an assessment to find out what's driving your pain.

Does dry needling hurt?

Most people feel a mild twitch or dull ache at most. It's used to help reduce muscle tension and settle pain as part of a wider plan.

Do I need a referral?

No referral is needed to book an appointment with a myotherapist. You can book online anytime.

Ready to stop the cycle?

If your lower back pain keeps coming back, it's time to look at why. Book an appointment at Myotherapy PRO in Moorabbin and let's build a plan that gets you real change, not just short-term relief.

Book online: myotherapypro.com.au

Call: 0413 749 552

Visit: 13 Wren Road, Moorabbin (inside Bayside Strength & Recovery)

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Myotherapy in Moorabbin (And What Myotherapy PRO Does Differently)

Myotherapy can help settle pain, improve movement and support performance, but treatment alone rarely lasts. Here’s how Myotherapy PRO does it differently.

By Jay Smyth-Small, Clinical Myotherapist, Myotherapy PRO, Moorabbin

If you've ever had a niggle that settles for a week and then comes straight back, you already know the problem. Pain relief on its own often doesn't last. This post explains what myotherapy is, how it can help, and why we built Myotherapy PRO around a system rather than a single treatment.

What is myotherapy?

Myotherapy is a hands-on, evidence-informed approach to assessing and treating musculoskeletal pain and movement problems.

At Myotherapy PRO in Moorabbin, that means massage and dry needling, backed by a proper assessment of how you move and load your body.

People usually see a myotherapist for:

  • Neck, shoulder and back pain

  • Hip, knee and foot niggles

  • Muscle tightness and restricted movement

  • Recovering from training or sport

  • Getting back to the gym or the pitch after an injury

How hands-on treatment can help

Massage and dry needling are tools. Used well, they can help in three main ways:

Settle symptoms down. Hands-on treatment can reduce pain and tension so you can move more comfortably and get on with your day.

Improve range of motion. Reducing restriction can help you access positions and movement patterns that felt stuck before. That matters whether you're squatting in the gym or reaching overhead at work.

Support performance. For athletes, treatment can support recovery and your ability to tolerate higher training intensity or volume, so you can keep training and competing.

The problem with treatment on its own

Here's the honest part. Treatment alone is rarely the full answer.

Most practitioners are great at one thing: hands-on treatment, coaching, or education. Very few put it all together, and that's usually where people fall through the cracks. You feel better after a session, then you go back to the same loading, the same weak links and the same habits, and the problem returns.

That's why I don't believe in hope strategies. I believe in systems.

What Myotherapy PRO does differently

I came into this industry through construction. I was concreting, got injured, and went through my own recovery. I studied myotherapy at university while still working on sites to pay for it, and later completed a degree in Sports Studies (Exercise and Health). Since then I've spent six years in private practice and five years in semi-professional soccer, and I'm now Head of Medical & High Performance at Dandenong City FC.

That experience shaped how we work. Every client at Myotherapy PRO goes through the same four steps:

1. Assess. We find out what's actually going on: how you move, how you load, and where the weak links are.

2. Treat. Hands-on work (massage and dry needling) to settle things down and get you moving.

3. Strengthen. Progressive strength training built around you, because pain relief that doesn't last isn't much use.

4. Progress. We keep building until you're prepared for what you actually do, whether that's a job site, a desk, a gym or a football pitch.

Treatment, strength and rehab, and education all sit under one roof, in one plan, with one person who understands the whole picture.

Who is it for?

The same system works for everyone, from NPL players to tradies and desk workers. Athletes, gym-goers, people who work with their hands and people who sit all day all end up in the same place: wanting to move well and stop thinking about their body.

The aim is real change, not just a good week.

Ready to get started?

Myotherapy PRO is located inside Bayside Strength & Recovery at 13 Wren Road, Moorabbin, and we see clients from Cheltenham, Bentleigh, Highett, Hampton, Sandringham and surrounding suburbs.

Book your first appointment online and we'll start with an assessment.

This article is general information and isn't a substitute for individual medical advice. If you have a new, severe or worsening injury, see your GP or healthcare provider.

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There's a Reason Your Low Back Keeps Getting Sore — You Don't Move It

Two people, same sore back — one sits all day, one trains five days a week. It's usually the same problem.

Two people walk into the clinic with the same sore low back.

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The first sits at a desk nine hours a day and hasn't trained in years. Easy story — sedentary, stiff, deconditioned.

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The second trains five days a week. Push, pull, legs, repeat. Deadlifts 180. And their back has been niggling for eight months.

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Those look like two different problems. They're usually the same one.

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It's not that you don't move. It's that you only move one way.

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Your body adapts to what you repeat

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Repeat a narrow range of positions and patterns, and you get very good at that narrow range — and progressively worse at everything outside it. Meanwhile the load doesn't disappear. Same tissues, same direction, same joint angles, day after day, with nothing to offload them. It's rarely one bad rep that does the damage; it's the ten thousand identical ones before it.

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Your lower back is usually where the bill lands, because it sits in the middle of everything and it's very good at compensating. When the hips don't rotate and the mid-back doesn't extend, the low back quietly picks up the slack. It does that well, for years, until it doesn't.

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For desk workers the maths is brutal: car, desk, lunch, desk, car, couch, bed. Across that whole day, how many times did your lower back actually go through its range under any control? Close to zero. Which is exactly why the story is always "it's worse after I've been sitting" and "it loosens up once I get moving."

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The gym-goer's week — the one nobody expects

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Here's where the second person gets caught out. They are moving. They're just moving in the same lane as everyone else.

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A standard push/pull/legs week — bench and press, rows and chin-ups, squats and deadlifts — is almost entirely forward and back, both sides at once, upright, through the middle of the range.

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What's missing:

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  • Rotation. Almost none — and the trunk work that happens is anti-rotation, teaching the spine to resist turning, never to turn well.

  • Side bend and lateral loading. Rare.

  • Single-leg work. Rare. Lifting on both legs lets the strong side hide the weak one.

  • End-range positions. Deep hip flexion, hip internal rotation, full overhead reach — mostly untouched.

  • Getting down to the floor and back up. Almost never after the warm-up.

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So the training is hard, but it isn't varied. You've built a big engine that only knows one gear. Then you twist to lift something out of the boot at an awkward angle and the back goes — not because you're weak, but because that position is one you've never trained.

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Strong and stiff is still stiff.

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Why resting it doesn't fix it

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Fair enough for a day or two of an angry flare-up. Past that, rest sets up the next one — tolerance drops fast and rebuilds slowly, so you return to the same demands with less capacity than before. That's why episode three arrives faster than episode two did.

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When researchers look at what actually stops low back pain recurring, exercise is the intervention that keeps showing up. And no single style wins — Pilates, strength, motor control, McKenzie all land in much the same place. The answer was never to find the one correct exercise. It's to stop doing the same handful forever.

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What variety actually looks like

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You don't need to bin your program. You need to widen it.

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Through the day — five minutes total, spread out: cat–cow, standing extensions after long stints of sitting, 90/90 hip rotations, and open books for the rotation you're not getting anywhere else. Change position every 30–45 minutes.

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In the gym — keep your main lifts, bolt these on: loaded rotation (cable chops, landmine rotations), single-leg work (split squats, single-leg RDLs), suitcase carries, lateral work (side planks, Copenhagens), and ground-based movement like get-ups. Two or three of those rotated through your existing sessions changes the picture.

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And walk. Thirty minutes most days. Underrated and free.

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When to get it looked at

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Book in with a health professional if you've got pain that's severe or clearly worsening, numbness or weakness travelling down a leg, unexplained weight loss or fever, a significant fall or crash, or pain that hasn't shifted after 4–6 weeks. Any change in bladder or bowel control, or numbness through the saddle region, needs urgent attention.

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Most low back pain doesn't need a scan. Disc bulges and degeneration show up constantly in people with no pain at all.

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Sore lower back that keeps coming back?

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At Myotherapy PRO in Moorabbin, we don't do the "see how you go" approach. Our assessment process looks at your strength, your mobility and the way your week is actually loaded — then combines hands-on treatment with exercise rehab and load management, so you leave knowing why it happened and what's missing.

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Serving Moorabbin, Cheltenham, Bentleigh, Highett, Hampton and Sandringham.

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Book an appointment online →

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📍 13 Wren Road, Moorabbin (inside Bayside Strength and Recovery) 📞 0413 749 552

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This article is general information, not individual medical advice. If your pain is severe, worsening, or accompanied by any of the red flags above, get assessed.

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Anterior Pelvic Tilt: Why It's Probably Not the Problem You Think It Is

If you've spent any time on fitness influencers Instagrams or TikTok, you've probably been told your anterior pelvic tilt is the reason for your back pain, your "weak glutes", your tight hip flexors — and that you need a 12-step corrective routine to fix it before you're allowed to train properly.

Here is the honest truth from someone who treats people with low back pain regularly.

Anterior pelvic tilt is normal. Most people have one.

What the Research Actually Says

A well-known study by Herrington (2011) measured pelvic tilt in 120 healthy people with no pain at all.

The results:

85% of males presented with an anterior pelvic tilt

75% of females presented with an anterior pelvic tilt

Only a small handful were "neutral" — and they weren't any better off for it.

The overwhelming majority of pain-free people are walking around with the exact "postural fault" you're being told to correct.

Other research has measured average tilt angles of around 8–13 degrees in healthy, asymptomatic adults.

In other words, a forward-tilted pelvis isn't a dysfunction — it's the default human posture.

"But My Physio/Coach/Instagram Guru Said It Causes Back Pain"

This idea comes from older postural models that assumed a tilted pelvis pulls the lower back into more arch, which then "compresses" structures and creates pain.

It sounds logical. The problem is the research hasn't backed it up.

Studies comparing people with and without lower back pain consistently fail to show that pelvic tilt predicts who gets sore. If anterior pelvic tilt caused back pain, we'd expect the 85% of pain-free men in Herrington's study to be in trouble. They weren't.

Your pelvis position is influenced by your bony anatomy — the shape you were born with — just as much as your muscles. For a lot of people, "fixing" their tilt would mean fighting their own skeleton.

So When Does It Actually Matter?

I'm not saying pelvic position is never relevant. In specific cases — certain hip impingement presentations, or athletes with genuinely excessive tilt combined with symptoms — it can be one piece of the puzzle.

But notice the key word: symptoms.

A tilt on its own, with no pain and no performance issue, is not something that needs correcting. It's a measurement, not a diagnosis.

What's More Likely Causing Your Back Pain

If your back is sore, the answer is usually far less exotic than your posture:

Training load that's ramped up too quickly

Accumulated fatigue across your week (see my last two blogs on spinal extensor fatigue)

Poor sleep and recovery

A big spike in work demands — especially if you're on the tools all day or seated all day in the home office.

Your back doesn't care what angle your pelvis sits at while you're standing still. It cares about how much total load it's handling and how well you're recovering from it.

The Takeaway

Anterior pelvic tilt is one of the most over-diagnosed, over-treated "problems" in the industry. If someone glances at you standing side-on and tells you your pelvis is the reason for your pain — without asking a single question about your training, work, sleep, or history — be sceptical.

You don't need to be fixed. You need to be assessed properly.

Sore back and not sure what's actually driving it?

At Myotherapy Pro, we don't chase posture. We assess your movement, training structure, strength (using state of the art strength equipment), and total weekly load to find what's genuinely contributing to your pain — then build a plan that lets you keep training hard.

Book in at the clinic in Moorabbin and let's get to the bottom of it.

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How to Reduce Unneccessary Back Pain in the Gym

That “tight” feeling is often your body’s response to fatigue and repeated loading, not necessarily damage. As your spinal extensors get fatigued:

They lose some ability to create stiffness and your ability to control the weight under load decreases. This then leads to other structures (like joints and ligaments) taking on more stress. Your body then increases muscle tone and acts as a protective strategy, often your body trying to create stability when it feels like it’s losing control.

This is why:

You might feel fine early in the week but notice stiffness or tightness building after multiple sessions or feel it more after higher volume or more demanding training blocks.

Stop Blaming a Single Exercise

We often make the mistake of pointing the finger at one movement, saying things like, "Deadlifts hurt my back" or "Squats don't agree with me". But most of the time, the exercise isn't the real problem.

The real culprit is the total load your spine has already been exposed to before you even start that lift. For instance, if you do rows, lunges, carries, and core work—all before your heavy deadlifts—your back hasn't suddenly become fragile. It's just already running on fumes.

How to Reduce Back Tightness

The good news is you don't have to stop training hard. You just need to be smarter about managing the total workload on your back during each session and across the entire week.

Mix Up Your Exercise Selection

A program packed with multiple bent-over or hinge-based movements means your spinal extensors are constantly working. Instead, try mixing in more upright or supported exercises and cutting back on stacking too many hinge positions in one session.

Use Chest-Supported Variations

This is one of the easiest fixes. Chest-supported rows, for example, let you hammer your upper back without putting unnecessary load on your lower back, dramatically reducing fatigue.

Get Strategic With Unilateral Work

Single-arm or single-leg exercises are fantastic. They still provide a strong training stimulus while significantly reducing the overall load on your spine.

Adjust Your Weekly Load

If that stiffness is a consistent weekend issue, you need to step back and look at the bigger picture:

Your total training volume

The number of sessions you're doing

How much exercise overlap there is between different days

Remember: it's rarely just one workout; it's the cumulative effect of everything adding up across the week.

The Takeaway

If your back feels tight, it doesn't mean your spine is broken. More often, it's a positive sign that your spinal extensors are working hard and accumulating fatigue, and your body is simply responding with protective tension. The ultimate solution isn't hitting the brakes on your training. It's about intelligently managing your total workload so you can keep making progress without constantly dealing with discomfort.

Need help figuring out exactly what's overloading your back?

At Myotherapy Pro, we dig deeper than just symptoms. We thoroughly assess your movement patterns, training structure, strength imbalances (using dynamometry), and load distribution across your program. Once we have the full picture, we design targeted rehab and training strategies that let you train hard—while keeping that frustrating back tightness at bay

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Why your back hurts after the Gym (and it’s not just because of deadlifts)

If you’ve ever walked out of the gym with a sore or tight lower back, it’s easy to blame exercises like deadlifts, squats, or RDLs.

But the truth is…….

Those lifts aren’t always the real problem.

A lot of the time, back discomfort after training comes down to something most people overlook:

Accumulated Spinal Extensor Fatigue

Your lumbar and thoracic extensors play a key role in almost every strength session.

Most people associate them with big compound lifts like:

Deadlifts / Squats / Romanian deadlifts / Hip thrusts

But what many don’t realise is that these muscles are working throughout your entire workout, not just during those exercises.

You may need to rethink your training regime as your back may be working more than you think

Your spinal extensors are responsible for keeping your spine stable and work to support it whilst doing most gym exercises.

This means they’re heavily involved in exercises like:

Bent over rows / Single arm dumbbell rows / Lunges and split squats / Overhead pressing

Farmer carries / Kettlebell swings / Even core exercises

In other words…

They could be working for almost the entire session.

The biggest issue with this is that by the time you get to your heavier compound lifts, your spinal extensors may already be fatigued.

When these muscles fatigue, a few things can happen:

Reduced spinal stiffness / Decreased control under load / Increased reliance on passive structures (like ligaments and joints)

Changes in how force is distributed through your lower back may also occur.

This is often when pain / discomfort starts to show up.

And it’s why many people say:

“Deadlifts hurt my back.”

When in reality, the issue may be how much cumulative load your spine has already handled before you even get to that lift.

Part 2 next week will deep dive into how you can substitute out certain exercises to save your extensor muscles.

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Morning vs Evening Gym Workouts: Which is Better?

Morning Training: Start Strong

Pros:

1. Boosts Energy and Focus All Day Exercising early gets your blood flowing and releases endorphins, leading to enhanced alertness and mental clarity for the rest of the day.

2. Supports Active Recovery Morning workouts allow your body to stay moving throughout the day, which can promote better muscle recovery and reduce stiffness or soreness.

3. Establishes Routine and Discipline Morning training builds consistency by reducing the chances of scheduling conflicts that often arise later in the day.

4. Improved Fat Burning (for Some) Fasted morning cardio can enhance fat oxidation, which may be beneficial if your goal is weight loss (though results can vary between individuals).

Cons:

1. Reduced Strength and Performance Body temperature and joint mobility are often lower in the morning, which may make it harder to lift heavy or perform at peak levels.

2. Tough for Night Owls If you’re not naturally a morning person, early workouts can feel more like a chore, and you may not be as mentally or physically prepared.

3. Time Pressure Trying to squeeze in a full workout before work or responsibilities can feel rushed or incomplete.

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Evening Training: Power Through Your PM

Pros:

1. Greater Physical Performance Studies show strength, endurance, and flexibility often peak in the late afternoon or early evening due to increased body temperature and neuromuscular efficiency.

2. Stress Relief Evening sessions can be a great way to decompress after a long day, helping you mentally reset and improve sleep quality (for some people).

3. More Time to Train You're less likely to be pressed for time, allowing for longer warm-ups, cooldowns, or extra sets if desired.

4. Social and Motivational Boost Gyms are often more lively in the evening, which can be energising and help with motivation if you're training with friends or in a class setting.

Cons:

1. Crowded Gyms Peak hours can mean long waits for equipment, more distractions, and less personal space.

2. Possible Sleep Disruption High-intensity evening workouts may interfere with sleep for some people, especially if done too close to bedtime.

3. Life Gets in the Way After-work fatigue, social plans, or family responsibilities can derail your evening gym intentions.

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So, Which Is Better?

Ultimately, the best time to work out is the one that fits your schedule and feels sustainable. If your mornings are calm and structured, getting your workout done early may suit you best. If you're stronger and more energised later in the day, evening training might be your go-to.

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5 Signs you might be Overtraining

Whether you're playing team sport at any level or a regular gym-goer pushing for progress, one thing is clear: the body can only take so much. Overtraining isn't always about feeling exhausted—it often shows up as subtle, nagging issues that are easy to dismiss... until they’re not.

Here are five signs to keep an eye on:

1. Persistent Niggles or Recurrent Injuries

If tight hamstrings, sore groins, or shoulder tweaks keep reappearing, it’s likely not just bad luck. Overtraining compromises the body’s ability to repair itself. Soccer players pushing through back-to-back matches or gym clients training hard with poor recovery are especially prone to these “warning shot” injuries.

2. Slower Recovery Between Sessions

Whether it's muscle soreness that lingers for days, or joints feeling stiff longer than usual, slowed recovery is a red flag. For field athletes, this can affect mobility and increase the risk of soft tissue strains. In the gym, it might mean you’re lifting with poor form because your body hasn't bounced back.

3. Performance Plateau or Drop-Off

Training hard but getting worse? That’s a classic sign of overload. Sub-elite athletes might find they’re not hitting their usual metrics—reduced sprint output, poor agility, or a general sense of heaviness. Lifters may notice they're stuck at the same weights or even regressing.

4. Mental and Emotional Fatigue

You don’t need to be “burnt out” to be overtraining—but if you’re dreading training, feeling snappy or just not mentally sharp, it’s worth looking at overall load. This is especially true in team environments where mental sharpness is key to decision-making under pressure.

5. Disrupted Sleep or Restlessness

A body stuck in “go mode” often has trouble winding down. Overtrained individuals may struggle with falling asleep, staying asleep, or waking up feeling tired. Add that to niggling injuries, and it becomes a recovery trap—your body can’t heal if it’s not resting properly.

Sometimes a de-load week can be introduced where training intensity or volume is intentionally reduced—gives the body a chance to recover, reset, and adapt, helping to reduce fatigue and prevent injuries.

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Differentiating Pain - Making sense of your Pain

Differentiating Pain - Making sense of your Pain

1. Nerve Pain (Neuropathic Pain):
Description: Pain caused by damage or dysfunction in the nervous system (peripheral or central nervous system).
Symptoms: Sharp, shooting, burning, or stabbing pain; may be accompanied by tingling, numbness, or hypersensitivity to touch.

Conditions that can cause Nerve Pain

Pinched Nerve (Sciatica): Compression of a nerve, often in the spine, causing pain and other symptoms. 

Diabetic Neuropathy: Nerve damage caused by high blood sugar levels. 

Shingles: A reactivation of the chickenpox virus that can cause nerve pain. 

Carpal Tunnel Syndrome: Compression of the median nerve in the wrist. . 

Peripheral Nerve Injuries: Damage to nerves in the arms or legs due to accidents, falls, or sports injuries. 

Autoimmune Diseases: Conditions like lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, and Sjogren's syndrome can damage nerves. 

Example:

An example of nerve pain might be sciatica. Pain starts in the lower back or buttock and radiates down one leg, sometimes all the way to the foot. It can vary from a mild ache to a sharp, burning pain, or even feel like an electric shock. Some people experience numbness, tingling, or a "pins and needles" sensation along the path of the sciatic nerve. Muscle weakness can also be associated with nerve pain, especially whenever there is a disc bulge.


2. Tendon Pain (Tendinopathy):
Description: The most common symptom of tendon pain is pain in the affected area. The pain may be a dull ache or a sharp, stabbing pain.
Symptoms: The pain may worsen with movement or activity, and may be relieved with rest. Tendon pain may cause stiffness in the affected area, making it difficult to move the affected body part. In some cases, tendon pain may be accompanied by swelling or inflammation in the affected area. Tendon pain may cause weakness in the affected tendon or muscle group, making it difficult to perform certain activities. Tendon pain may develop gradually over time, rather than suddenly.
Example: Pain in the elbow from repetitive arm movements (e.g., in tennis players).


3. Muscle Pain (Myalgia):
Description: Pain occurring in muscles due to strain, overuse, or systemic conditions.
Symptoms: Dull, aching pain, muscle tightness, or spasms; localized or widespread.

Muscle pain can range from a mild, dull ache to severe and sharp pain. The pain may be constant or intermittent. If the muscle pain is related to physical activity, it may be more likely to occur during the day when you are active. If the muscle pain is related to certain medical conditions, such as arthritis, it may be more likely to occur at night due to changes in temperature,humidity, or sleep position. Muscle pain may be associated with specific activities or positions, such as sitting or standing for long periods of time, or holding the body in a certain position during sleep.
Example: A sudden, sharp pain in the back of the thigh (hamstring) potentially accompanied by a snapping or popping sensation, often occurring during activities like sprinting or jumping.


4. Ligament Pain:
Description: Pain resulting from damage to ligaments, which connect bones to each other and stabilize joints.
Symptoms: Sharp, localized pain; swelling; instability of the affected joint.

Ligament pain is often described as a sharp pain in the affected area. The affected area may become swollen and tender to the touch or may cause stiffness and difficulty moving the affected joint or limb. In some cases, ligament pain may cause weakness in the affected area. Ligament pain may also be accompanied by bruising in the affected area.

Example: An example of ligament pain is a sprained ankle, which occurs when the ligaments around the ankle joint are stretched or torn, often from a sudden twisting or rolling of the foot. 


5. Joint Pain (Arthralgia):
Description: Pain may be constant or it can come and go. Sometimes the joint can feel stiff, achy, or sore. Some patients complain of a burning, throbbing, or “grating” sensation. In addition, the joint may feel stiff in the morning but loosen up and feel better with movement and activity. However, too much activity could make the pain worse.
Symptoms:
Example: Knee pain after prolonged standing (osteoarthritis).

6. Stress Fracture

Description: Stress fractures are small cracks or breaks in the bones that occur due to repetitive stress on the bone.

Symptoms : The most common symptom of a stress fracture is pain in the affected bone, which may start out as a mild ache and progress to a more severe pain over time.

When a stress fracture is present, the affected area may become swollen, tender, or bruised. The skin over the affected area may also become red or warm to the touch, and in some cases, stress fractures may cause weakness in the affected area, making it difficult to perform certain activities. The affected area may be tender to the touch, and the pain may increase when pressure is applied to the area.

Stress fractures may cause stiffness in the affected area, making it difficult to move the affected limb or joint.

Example: A common example of a stress fracture is a metatarsal stress fracture in the foot, often seen in runners or athletes who engage in repetitive impact activities.

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