Why Everything You’ve Been Told About Training and Pain Might Be Wrong

Have you ever stretched for months, done every posture exercise religiously, foam rolled, or Functional Movement screened (FMS) each week—only to find your pain still lingers- your posture still poor?

What if the issue isn’t your body at all—but how your brain interprets your movement?

It turns out, your nervous system is the real powerhouse behind strength, flexibility, and even pain. And if your brain doesn’t have a clear map of your body, it will compensate—not by making you stronger, but by making you stiff, tight, or even weak.

Let’s talk about the science of how your nervous system controls movement—a brain-first thought process - and what you can do today to unlock better performance and pain-free training.

Everything above the neck affects everything below the neck.

Your Brain’s “Map” of Your Body Controls Everything

Most people think strength comes from lifting heavier weights and endurance comes from running longer distances. But the truth is, your brain dictates how much power you can produce, how much range of motion you have, and even how much pain you feel.

This was a stark revelation for me being in the fitness industry since the inception of the internet and the amount of education available to us.  Everything that I was taught, everything that I learned was working as we thought.  

I always had the question why? I was always searching for the "next thing" to help me and my clients.

Have you felt this way?

The interesting piece to all of this neuro thought process is the industry knows the importance, but hasn't been taught how to harness the power of the brain. 

And this is what we want to share with you. 

Keep an open mind.  I'm so glad I did, and you will find that unlocking the neurological aspects of your brain will enhance all of that biomechanical education you have learned. 

Inside your nervous system is a complex sensory map of your entire body, known as proprioception. This map tells your brain where your joints are in space and how much force they can handle.

If that map is clear, movement feels effortless. But if it’s blurry? Your brain hits the brakes.

Here’s something wild: pain isn’t always caused by an injury. It’s your brain’s way of protecting you from a perceived threat—even if there’s no actual tissue damage.

Imagine an athlete who sprained their ankle months ago. The tissue has healed, but the brain still registers movement in that joint as dangerous.

The result?

They experience pain and stiffness, even though the ankle is physically fine.

We all understand this, but now there is actual science to help us understand better. 

By improving proprioception—your brain’s awareness of movement—you can override unnecessary pain signals and restore pain-free function.  We call this decreasing threat in the brain. 

When the brain has less threat (stress) we move better, feel better and function better. 

To learn more about threat and why this is so important, click here.

The Three Pathways That Control Movement (And Why They Matter)

Your nervous system processes movement through three major pathways:

1.  The Dorsal Column – Responsible for conscious movement awareness, fine touch, and vibration. If your knee feels unstable, stimulating this pathway (through light touch or vibration) can improve control.
2.  The Spinal Thalamic Tract – Detects pain, temperature, and noxious stimuli. Sometimes, chronic pain is caused by this system misinterpreting safe movement as a threat.
3.  The Spinal Cerebellar Tract – Manages unconscious movement corrections, helping you move smoothly without thinking about it. 

When any of these systems become disrupted—through injury, stress, or lack of use—your movement quality suffers, and pain can emerge. 

Learning how to turn on those areas of the brain is Applied Neurology.  Just like doing a band walk, or turning on your glute medius, applied neurology works through the major sensory areas of the body (visual, vestibular -inner-ear, proprioceptive), activating centers of the brain that are in high-threat situations. 

Why “No Pain, No Gain” is a Myth

We’ve been told that pushing through pain makes us stronger. But in reality, pain is a sign that your nervous system feels threatened.

This is a really interesting point that makes sense once you understand the brain's number on job is to protect us from danger (stress).  The more threat (stress) the more the brain has to compensate for this stress.

The more you ignore it, the more your brain reinforces a protective response—leading to tighter muscles, decreased strength, and even more pain.

Instead of fighting through pain, the smarter approach is to train your nervous system to feel safe. This is where neural exercises come in and one we would coach you to do as part of your warm-up routine. 

For more information on this, read: 

How Do I Know Which Area of the Brain to Train?

3 Things We Discover When Assessing the Nervous System and Brain

The Top 6 Posture Clues Linked to Your Brain

How to Improve Strength and Reduce Pain—Fast

Here’s a simple strategy: test, train, retest.

1.  Find a movement that feels restricted (like a squat or shoulder press).
2.  Try a proprioceptive stimulus—light touch, joint mobility, or vibration.
3.  Re-test the movement. If the range of motion improves or pain decreases, you’ve found a neural input that your brain responds to positively. 

By teaching your brain to trust your movement, you reduce perceived threat—and improve strength and flexibility instantly.

If you want to learn more about this concept, look at our Neuro Functional Strength Course.

The Future of Education in Training is Neuroscience Based

Traditional fitness focuses on muscles, but the future of performance is about training the nervous system, first.  Whether you’re recovering from pain or maximizing athletic potential, the key isn’t just what you do—it’s how your brain perceives it.

And let me for a second say that we are not telling you lifting, strength, power, etc are not training, THEY ARE.   We are saying the traditional warm-up methods will be enhanced, they will STICK and your performance on all levels increase when you go BRAIN FIRST. 

When you learn to speak the language of your nervous system, you unlock movement, power, and pain relief in ways traditional training can’t match.

So, next time you hit a plateau or struggle with nagging pain, ask yourself: Am I training harder, or am I training smarter?