An injury is not a full stop. It's a signal: this area gets some rest and we rebuild it slowly, while we keep training the rest of the body. Handled well, an injury even becomes a chance to fix what caused it in the first place: a lack of strength, an imbalance, a bad movement repeated hundreds of times.
Here's how to approach the four areas that come up most often with my clients: the back, the shoulder, the elbow and the knee. For each one, the same logic: what we're after, what we avoid, and what we actually do. In plain words, no medical dictionary required.
First things first. If you have sharp pain, pain that shoots down your arm or leg, a loss of strength, or a hot and swollen area: stop and see a doctor or a physio. A coach guides your comeback, they don't replace a diagnosis. The rest of this article is about lingering niggles, not acute injuries.
The back (herniated disc)
Between each vertebra sits a small cushion that absorbs shock: the disc. A herniated disc is when that cushion gets damaged and presses on a nerve. That's what causes the pain, sometimes all the way down into the buttock or leg.
What we're after
- Take pressure off that cushion instead of crushing it further.
- Strengthen the natural "belt" around the stomach and lower back, the deep muscles that hold the spine like a corset.
- Relearn how to bend by folding at the hips, not by rounding the back.
- Loosen up the hips and upper back to take load off the lower back.
What we avoid
- Lifting heavy with a rounded back. The worst thing for the disc.
- Repeating movements that round the back under load: "crunch" style sit-ups, picking things up with a rounded back.
- Twisting the torso forcefully with weight in your hands.
- Sitting slumped for hours.
- Jumping and impacts early in the comeback.
What we do
- Bracing work: holding a still position while squeezing the stomach, the plank on your front and on your side.
- The "bird-dog": on all fours, extend one arm and the opposite leg while keeping the back perfectly straight.
- Learn to bend by pushing the hips back, flat back, with a stick along the spine to feel the right position.
- Strengthen the glutes with the bridge: lying on your back, lift the hips by pushing through the heels.
- Walk every day. Simple, and it genuinely helps.
The shoulder (tendinitis)
The shoulder is held by a small group of muscles wrapped around the joint that keep it stable. When one of their tendons gets irritated from rubbing, it hurts, especially with the arm raised above the shoulder.
What we're after
- Calm the irritation before loading up.
- Strengthen those small stabilising muscles, which are often too weak.
- Get the shoulder blade moving better so the arm goes up without pinching.
- Fix the rounded posture, shoulders falling forward, that pinches the tendon.
What we avoid
- Overhead movements when they hurt: heavy overhead press, pulling behind the neck.
- Heavy bench press and deep dips that crush the joint.
- The exact height where the pain kicks in, often with the arm halfway up to the side: at first we work outside that range.
- Forcing stretches. Here, "it hurts so I'll push through" is a bad idea.
What we do
- With a band, elbow glued to your side: open the forearm outward, then inward. Slow and light.
- The "face pull": pull a band toward your face, elbows high. Great for the back of the shoulder.
- Strengthen the shoulder blade: lying on your front, draw Y, T and W shapes with your arms.
- Start by holding positions without moving to wake the tendon up gently.
- Move on to slow, controlled movement once the pain settles.
The elbow (tennis / golfer's elbow)
The forearm muscles attach on each side of the elbow through a tendon. From overusing the hand (gripping hard, repeated movements), that tendon gets irritated. On the outer side of the elbow it's called "tennis elbow". On the inner side, "golfer's elbow". The approach follows the same logic in both cases.
What we're after
- Reduce the load on the tendon and break the cycle of irritation.
- Strengthen it gradually, especially by slowing the movement on the way down. That's what works best here.
- Get strength back in the hand and wrist.
- Fix what's overloading it: gripping too hard, wrist poorly positioned, bad pulling technique.
What we avoid
- Gripping hard for a long time when it hurts.
- Heavy pulls where you hang on for dear life (heavy deadlift, high volume of pull-ups) while it still nags.
- Loading the wrist heavy too soon.
- Repeated daily movements that flare it up: screwing, carrying bags, a badly placed computer mouse.
- Sharp stretches and deep massage on the inflamed tendon.
What we do
- With a light weight or a band: raise the wrist, then lower it very slowly, focusing on the way down. That's the movement that repairs.
- Hold a still position, light weight, at the very start.
- Get the hand used to gripping again: squeeze a soft ball, then build up little by little.
- Strengthen the shoulder and upper back too. The real weak point is often higher up.
- Adapt your gear: thicker handles, straps so you don't over-grip on pulls.
The knee (patellar tendinitis)
Below the kneecap, a tendon connects the thigh to the shin. It takes a hit with every jump and every bend. Too much load, too much jumping, and it gets irritated: this is "jumper's knee".
What we're after
- Cut the jumping and impacts to calm the tendon.
- Strengthen the thigh gently, in stages.
- Strengthen the whole leg (glutes, hamstrings, calves) to spread the load.
- Fix the knee that "caves" inward and improve how you absorb landings.
What we avoid
- Jumping, running, anything that pounds hard when it hurts.
- Very deep squats and heavy lunges that trigger the pain.
- The leg extension machine loaded to the max, very irritating for this tendon.
- Running downhill and sharp changes of direction while it still nags.
- Complete prolonged rest: the tendon needs a bit of work to heal, not total stillness.
What we do
- Hold a bent-knee position without moving: back against the wall, the "chair" held for 30 to 45 seconds. It relieves and strengthens.
- Very slow squat on the way down, ideally with the feet on a small incline.
- Strengthen the thigh in stages: bodyweight, then light load, never pushing into pain.
- Strengthen the back of the leg: the glute bridge, the light Romanian deadlift.
- Calves: rise up onto the balls of your feet. They absorb part of the load on the knee.
- Work single-leg balance and step slowly down off a step in front of a mirror to fix the caving knee.
- Bring jumping back only at the end, once there's no more pain and the leg is solid.
The rule that holds for all four areas: we don't chase pain, but we don't avoid movement either. A tendon or a back that's never worked doesn't get stronger. The right setting is a mild discomfort that fades quickly, never a pain that builds session after session. When in doubt, drop the load, not the activity.
The common thread: stay active, differently
The classic reflex when you get hurt is to stop everything and wait for it to pass. The problem is that inactivity weakens everything else, and you get re-injured faster when you come back. The better approach is different: you offload the injured area, rebuild it in stages, and keep the body trained everywhere else. Shoulder wrecked? Work the legs. Dodgy knee? Keep the upper body strong.
This is where one-on-one coaching changes everything. Setting the load at the right level, choosing the right exercises at the right time, fixing the movement that caused the injury: that isn't something you improvise from a video. It's steered, session after session, by someone watching how you move.
A niggle that won't quit? Let's come back the smart way
Back, shoulder, elbow, knee: I build a programme tailored to your injury and your level, to get you stronger without waking the pain. First chat, no commitment.
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