Good pain is the feeling of release and lengthening in a muscle when doing tissue work and stretching. It's the feeling of fatigue in a muscle when doing reactivation work.

Bad pain includes pinching, jamming, intense pain, numbness, and intense tingling.

Enjoy "good pain" but don't make it SUPER intense. And don't push through "bad pain."

Your sense of "good pain" vs "bad pain" will become more refined with practice. Don't worry too much if it’s a little hard to distinguish in the beginning. When you first start, err on the side of trying "too little" rather than trying "too hard."

Closing your eyes and breathing deeply as you work will help you gain a deeper sense of what is good pain and what is bad pain. Maximal relaxation = maximal insight.

If an exercise feels questionable and you’re not sure if it’s good pain or bad pain, try to subtly change your body position to see if it feels better or worse.

1. Stretching to feel like it is relaxing and releasing things. Zero to minimal sharp pains, pinching, burning, etc.! You should feel STRETCH/LENGTHENING in the muscles on the "opening angle." If you can't breathe because it's so intense, you're doing it too hard.

Sometimes, if you have a very weak muscle, you will experience sharp pains, pinching, and burning in the muscle fibers around the weak area. Sometimes this can feel like it's "in the joint" when it's just "very close to the joint." In this case, you will want to use contract/relax technique properly recalibrate your brain and those muscle fibers.

2. Tissue Work should feel like a "hurts so good" kind of deep massage. Again no super intense sharp, painful, pinching, or burning sensations are desirable. Keep things at a medium intensity. If you can't breathe, you're doing it way too hard!

3. Re-activation / strengthening work should just feel like you are "activating" the targeted muscles. Those muscles should feel like they are getting tired! If you can't feel the right muscles, check out this video.

If nothing you try makes it more comfortable or if you feel like an exercise always makes you feel worse during or after execution, simply set it aside to revisit at a later date.

In summary: if your body is sending pain signals, take this as a "pay attention!" sign. You may need to be more mindful, change position, or try a new tool or exercise.