Tight shoulders.
Clicky shoulders.
Painful shoulders.
They all get lumped into “shoulder pain”…
But they’re not the same thing.
And after 20+ years as a physio, one of the biggest skills I’ve developed is understanding the meaning behind the words people use to describe what they’re feeling.
- Achey.
- Sharp.
- Unstable.
- Burning.
- Heavy.
- And sometimes I have to dig a little deeper for words like:
- fluffy
- buzzy
- “just not right”
But that’s all part of the fun 😅
The words matter. Because they point me to what’s actually going on – and how we should approach training.
Which brings me to one of the most common questions I get:
“Should I push through this… or will I make it worse?”
Most people think they have two options:
👉 Push through and risk aggravating it
👉 Stop completely and wait for it to settle
But there’s almost always a third option:
Adjust – and keep moving.
So this week, I’m sharing the same simple system I use in clinic:
🟢 Green — safe to keep training and progress
🟠 Orange — modify and monitor
🔴 Red — scale back and get some support
👉 [Download the Traffic Light Guide here]
The key is understanding what type of shoulder you’re dealing with.
If you want me to walk you through this properly – including the most common shoulder presentations I see, and how to train with each one – I’ve broken it down in this week’s (10 minute) podcast episode:
🎧 Clicking, Tight or Painful? How to Keep Training With Shoulder Pain
👉 [Listen here]
If you’ve been avoiding upper body work because something doesn’t feel quite right, this should help you figure out your next step.