Perhaps this is a surprising question to read on a website that's promoting exercise.

It's my experience however that exercise can indeed make people worse and if you’re reading this, maybe yours too.

If you exercise regularly I've no doubt you've either been injured before, or you're currently suffering from pain or discomfort.

Once you are injured most rehab professionals you visit will give you exercises in the hope of making you feel better.

Sometimes these either don't work or make you feel worse.

So what's going on?

How can something that's supposed to be good for you actually make you feel bad?

Since the early days of my career some 25 years ago, this is the question I've been trying to answer.

It was obvious to me that exercise could make some people worse, whilst others seemed to get stronger and thrive.

I couldn't reliably tell which way it would go and why however.

In the years that followed I have sought to understand exactly how to apply exercise with the goal of improving anybody, no matter where their starting point is.

Here's what I've learned so far.