How to Train Around an Injury Without Losing Your Progress

Picking up an injury is frustrating—especially when you’re making solid progress in your training.

The biggest fear for most people isn’t just the pain but the thought of losing fitness, muscle and of course that all important momentum.

The good news? In most cases you don’t have to stop training altogether. With the right approach, you can work around your injury, stay active and even come back stronger. The key is knowing how to modify your training safely while supporting your body’s recovery.

In this guide I’ll walk you through practical strategies to keep moving without making things worse.

1. Assess the Injury – How Bad Is It?

Before deciding how to train around an injury you need to assess the severity. There is of course a fine line between pushing through discomfort and causing further damage.

Questions to Ask Yourself:

• Does movement cause sharp, shooting or worsening pain?

• Is the injured area swollen, red or unstable?

• Have you lost strength or range of motion compared to the other side?

If the pain is mild and improves with movement you can often train with the right modifications. But if you feel sharp pain, instability or persistent swelling, get it checked by a professional before continuing.

Pro Tip: If you’re unsure, use a pain scale from 1-10 during movement. Anything above a 4/10 (mild discomfort) should be a red flag to modify or stop.

2. Modify Your Workouts – Adapt, Don’t Abandon

One of the biggest mistakes people make after an injury is doing nothing at all. The body thrives on movement and complete rest often leads to stiffness, muscle loss and slower healing. The key is training smart and adjusting your approach.

How to Train Around Specific Injuries:

• Lower body injury (ankle, knee, foot) → Focus on upper body strength, seated resistance exercises and core training.

• Upper body injury (shoulder, wrist, elbow) → Maintain lower body strength with squats, lunges, cycling and core work.

• Back injury → Prioritise controlled core engagement, avoid heavy spinal loading and opt for supported movements.

  
  

Example: Instead of barbell squats (which might stress an injured ankle), try seated leg press (if available) or wall sits to maintain lower-body strength while minimising ankle movement and instability.

The key is finding pain-free movement patterns that maintain strength while reducing stress on the injured area.

The Cross-Transfer Effect: If you’ve injured your left leg and can’t bear weight on it, focus on training your right leg with single-leg exercises (e.g., leg press, leg extensions, hamstring curls). Research shows this can help maintain some strength in the injured limb through the cross-education effect, where training one side of the body helps preserve strength and neural activation on the other.

3. Keep Up Your Cardio – Without Aggravating the Injury

Many people worry about losing cardiovascular fitness when injured, but there are plenty of low-impact alternatives that allow you to keep training without stressing the injured area.

Cardio Options Based on Injury Type:

• Lower-body injury → Upper-body-focused cardio, such as the hand bike, battle ropes or ski erg

• Upper-body injury → Cycling or incline walking to keep your heart rate up without using the injured limb.

• General joint pain → Swimming or aqua jogging/hydrotherapy is fantastic for staying active without impact.

Tip: If you love running but can’t do impact work, a stationary bike, assault bike, rowing machine can help maintain endurance while your injury heals.

4. Strengthen Weak Links – Rehab & Prehab

Injuries often expose weaknesses in other areas of the body. Instead of seeing an injury as a setback use it as an opportunity to strengthen surrounding muscles and correct any imbalances that may have contributed to the issue in the first place.

Examples of Strengthening Around an Injury:

• Knee injuries? Work on hip and glute strength (e.g., glute bridges, clamshells, lateral band walks).

• Shoulder issues? Improve scapular control and upper-back strength (e.g., band pull-aparts, face pulls).

• Ankle sprain? Strengthen the calves, tibialis anterior and balance control (e.g., single-leg stands, resistance band foot flexion).

By working on supporting muscle groups you reduce the risk of re-injury and will come back stronger...for longer!!

5. Prioritise Recovery – Move, Don’t Just Rest

Many people think recovery means doing nothing but that’s outdated thinking. The PEACE & LOVE principle (Protect, Elevate, Avoid anti-inflammatories, Compress, Educate & Load, Optimism, Vascularisation, Exercise) shows that active recovery speeds up healing better than complete rest.

Recovery Strategies to Use While Training Around an Injury:

• Mobility Work – Gentle stretching and range-of-motion exercises to keep movement fluid.

• Pain Management – Pain relief can be an essential part of the recovery process but be sure to check in with your pain and not just mask it with medication. Pain is our body’s way of talking to us.  

• Sleep & Nutrition – Prioritise protein, omega-3s, and hydration to support tissue repair.

• Blood Flow – Light movement (like walking or swimming) boosts circulation, helping speed up healing.

Tip: If you feel too stiff and sore after training, it’s a sign you might need to scale back slightly or adjust your approach. Listen to your body!

6. Track Progress – Know When to Push Forward

The key to recovering while staying active is to track how your body responds. Don’t just go off gut feeling—use objective markers to assess whether you’re improving.

What to Track:

• Pain Levels – Does discomfort increase, stay the same, or improve after training?

• Range of Motion – Are you gaining mobility back in the injured area?

• Strength & Endurance – Are you maintaining strength in uninjured areas while progressing rehab?

  
  

If pain worsens after training or lingers the next day, that’s a sign you may need to scale back. But if things are improving, you can gradually increase intensity.

7. Get Professional Guidance – When to Seek Help

If you’ve been struggling with an injury for more than 2 weeks without improvement, it’s time to get it looked at by a sports therapist or physio. Sometimes, a small tweak in your rehab approach can make all the difference.

A professional can:

• Help you safely modify exercises to keep progressing

• Identify weak links that may have contributed to the injury

• Guide you through return-to-play protocols so you don’t rush back too soon.

If you need a personalised plan to train around an injury? Drop me a message and I’ll help you stay on track while keeping your body in one piece!

Conclusion: Train Smart, Recover StrongeR

An injury doesn’t mean you have to stop training. By modifying your workouts, maintaining cardio, focusing on recovery and strengthening weak areas, you can continue progressing safely while your body heals.

The key is to listen to your body, make smart adjustments and track progress to avoid setbacks.

And if you’re unsure? Get expert advice to make sure you’re training in a way that helps, not hinders your recovery.

Over to you! Have you ever trained around an injury? Drop a comment and let me know how you adapted!