It is common for gym-goers to be confronted with the phrase ‘ No Pain, no Gain ‘. Whilst it is true that effort and diligence are often proportionate to results, there is a fine line between doing it right and irreversibly injuring oneself. The bones and soft tissues of our musculoskeletal system typically work under a normal range of loading and stress. When we participate in endurance or strength training, we begin to deliberately push the muscle, tendons, ligaments, and even our bones to accommodate stresses beyond their resting tension. They gradually begin to get accustomed to this new load by stretching beyond their resting tension and getting stronger. During this acclimatization phase, good pain is quite normal but typically improves and eventually diminishes. Good pain is a hallmark of conditioning exercises and will not result in a permanent deformity or loss of function. Bad pain on the other hand is usually suggestive of underlying structural damage. The pain may be sudden and sometimes associated with a ‘popping sound’ or even visible deformity that persists. Whilst it may be OK to treat an initial and early bad pain with rest, icing, elevation, and gentle mobilization, pain that persists warrants an expert assessment. Typically, there are 3 types of bad pain :