Anytime you shame someone, it’s bad advice. Sure, criminals and mean people could probably use a little shame. But are we really shaming a mostly sedentary person for being cautious about their sore back? What about a former athlete with knee injuries? Or even a current pro athlete managing chronic pain?

Is the real message here “To get fit, you must be willing to get injured—with possibly life-altering consequences. Or ‘shame on you’”?

Let’s rethink that.