The body adapts to load by growing stronger
The body is not a machine that wears out after so many hours - it’s a living system, built to change. When you lift something heavy, walk further than usual, or face a difficult challenge, your body doesn’t just survive - it adapts. This principle applies across all body systems, not just muscles and joints. The nervous system, the immune system, even the way we process pain - all of these systems respond to load. Recovery from chronic pain is not generally about doing less. It’s about choosing the right kind of load at the right time, and pairing it with the rest and support your body needs to grow stronger. By selecting the right load, we can choose the adaptations we want to encourage in recovery.
Avoiding load encourages the body to become more fragile
Avoiding load can make the body more fragile - not because rest is bad, but because unused systems lose capacity. When we stop challenging the body, it adapts. Muscles get smaller, bones become weaker; the pain system can even become more sensitive. The trick is select loads that will trigger adaptation towards meaningful change. Strength is our body’s response to doing more, not less.
All body systems respond to load
All body systems respond to load. It’s not just muscles or bones that adapt - your heart, lungs, immune system, nervous system, even your mood and memory are shaped by the demands you place on them. Load is the body’s way of sensing what matters, and where to send its energy. Too little, and systems quietly wind down to conserve resources. Just enough, and the body builds capacity - becoming more robust, and harder to break. The goal isn’t to avoid stress, but to dose it wisely. Load send a message, telling out body to “grow here”. By getting these messages right, we can regain control and start adapting towards recovery.
Load can trigger positive adaptations that reduce risk
We often focus on the risks of doing too much, while forgetting about the risks of not doing enough. Avoiding load can feel safe in the short term, and doing new things will often lead to a short-term increase in pain. But over time, a more cautious approach becomes risky. By steering clear of challenge, we invite decline - losing strength, confidence, capacity, and even connection. Change carries uncertainty; but if nothing changes, nothing changes. And here’s the good news: when used wisely, load carries less risk than we might assume - and over time, it actually reduces it. Load is a tools to make your body stronger, and getting it right can make all the difference.
Permission To Move
Each year we provide healthcare to people in more than 30 countries. Our clinical team are based in Adelaide and Melbourne, and offer in-person treatment Monday to Friday.
177 Gilles St, Adelaide SA 5000
Permission To Move acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of Country throughout Australia and recognises the continuing connection to lands, waters and communities. We pay our respect to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures and to Elders past and present.
hello@permissiontomove.com
(+61) 434 294 209
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