Injury Management: Training Around Setbacks

Injuries are part of a long training career. The response to an injury matters as much as the training that preceded it. Here's how I manage them.

First week: identify the injury. Is it acute (sudden onset, specific event) or overuse (gradual onset, no single cause)? Acute injuries may need imaging; overuse injuries usually don't. For both: avoid pain-producing movements but keep everything else going.

Second and third weeks: work around the injury, not through it. A shoulder issue? Train legs, core, and the uninjured shoulder. A knee issue? Maintain upper body and core work. Keeping the rest of the body moving maintains fitness and prevents the detraining that comes from complete rest.

Active rehabilitation: find the edge of comfortable range of motion and work there. Gentle movement within pain-free range improves blood flow and tissue remodeling speed. Complete immobility slows healing.

Return to training: start at 50% of your pre-injury volume and intensity in the previously injured area. Progress conservatively over 4-6 weeks. Re-injury is far more likely in the first weeks back than at any other time.