Of course we want to avoid injury as much as possible, but unfortunately, this can still happen. While it is tempting to just stop any sort of training in the meantime, it is normally possible to continue with training with a few adaptations and ingenuity. It is really important to keep the body resilient to help with getting better!

I recently had a client who broke her shoulder blade when she fell off the bike.
Aside from a period after her surgery, it was possible for her to keep training. Between injury and a few weeks after surgery, we could no longer work the arm and shoulder, but we could do a lot of other exercises. We also worked the other arm a lot. This all helped to keep her body strong and recover quickly from her injury.
Of course she was with her physio for specific treatment for the shoulder.

It is best to have treatment from a physio or appropriate medical professional for an injury. They can provide guidance on what to do/not to do.
Outside of these instructions, you should be able to keep training.

Here are some things to consider:

1. What can you do?
   If you have injured your upper body you should be able to do some work on your lower body (and vice versa). Maybe you can’t run but you can cycle? Or you can’t play football but you can workout in the gym. Keeping up some sort of movement or exercise will be beneficial to your recovery.

2. Adapt intensity
   While you are recovering it might take some energy from your training, so you may have to make your exercises a bit easier. In this  case you can reduce the weight of your exercises or the number of reps.
   If you have an injury that stops you holding weights, you may just have to lift less weight, however changing exercises from two legged to one legged or doing an exercise slower can make the exercise harder.

3.  Change equipment
   I don’t often use fixed machines to train clients, but they can be useful to isolate your muscles and keep them strong.
   You may have to make some considerations for what equipment you can hold or how you can hold it. You may not be able to hold dumbbells in your hands, but you could put a barbell on your shoulders. You may not be able to stand, but you could sit on a bench and do some of your arm exercise.

I hope these tips can help you if you find yourself in the unfortunate position of being injured.

If you want some help to train while take a look at my personal training.