[miketery]

Optimal load is right before it starts hurting. You progressively load, and when it starts hurting you unload. Your body will send pain before there is damage to be done.

Edit: in fact some discomfort or right kind of pain is good. Else you give to atrophy.

[shermantanktop]

That’s not how pain works. Pain is a noisy and error-prone signal that gives you a good approximation for “stop doing that.” But the edge of pain sensation doesn’t indicate what is or isn’t a good idea during recovery. It’s not a bad place to start, but everyone has different pain tolerances, some injuries are in nerve-poor areas, and repetitive stress or tendinitis are definitely not going to appreciate getting lit up right away.

[jacksnipe]

I’m in PT and dealing with orthos right now, and according to them, that IS how pain works for the vast majority of ortho injuries

[layer8]

Your edit shows that there is no good rule for the threshold where pain would indicate too much load vs. still being in the beneficial range. We don’t even have a good way to assess subjective pain (one’s 3 is another one’s 7, etc.). “Optimal load” is really just a tautology.

[Dylan16807]

> “Optimal load” is really just a tautology.

It's not just a tautology, because it correctly implies that the right amount of load is not zero.

And it's hard to expect an acronym by itself to be very specific.

[pessimizer]

"As soon as it starts to hurt" is not some hopelessly complex and useless standard that involves delving into philosophies of subjective pain sensation. It is actually obvious and easy to follow.

Use it, but when it hurts, stop.