You have only broken you elbow, not your whole body.
A few days ago I read a newsletter from Ali Abdaal that perfectly illustrates a mistake I see in my practice all the time.
A few months ago, Ali broke his left elbow.
His surgeon’s advice was straightforward: keep it immobilized for two weeks, then gradually start moving it again.
Before the injury, his routine was solid. He lifted weights three times a week, did cardio another three times, and described himself as being in the best shape of his life.
Then something interesting happened.
He stopped almost everything.
No gym. No running. No cardio. No training.
Not because his whole body was injured—but because one elbow was.
Honestly, I understand why.
When people get injured, they often feel like they should “rest until they’re better.” But that mindset usually leads to something I try hard to prevent: unnecessary deconditioning.
A broken elbow doesn’t stop you from training your legs.
A knee injury doesn’t mean your upper body suddenly forgot how to work.
Depending on your injury and your doctor’s recommendations, there’s often far more you can do than you initially think.
And that matters.
Research shows that continuing to train the healthy opposite limb can reduce the loss of strength—and to some extent muscle mass—in the injured limb. This phenomenon is called the cross-education effect. It doesn’t replace rehabilitation, but it gives your injured side a better starting point once you’re allowed to train it again.
At the same time, keeping the rest of your body active helps prevent something else: your overall fitness from disappearing.
Your cardiovascular fitness, muscle mass, work capacity and daily routine don’t have to vanish just because one joint is temporarily out of action.
There may even be another benefit. When your muscles contract during exercise, they release signaling molecules called myokines. These chemical messengers help regulate inflammation and tissue repair.
While they don’t replace proper rehabilitation, they remind us that movement doesn’t just affect the muscles you’re training—it has positive effects throughout your body.
Every time you move, your body responds.
That’s one more reason to stay as active as your injury safely allows.
There’s a third reason I encourage my patients to keep training.
The healthy limb becomes your benchmark.
After an injury, we often compare the injured side with the healthy one to judge how much strength has returned.
If you stop training altogether, both sides become weaker. Suddenly your reference point isn’t your normal strength anymore—it’s a deconditioned version of yourself.
Keeping the healthy side strong gives you a much better target to work toward.
That’s why my advice after many injuries is surprisingly simple:
Don’t just ask yourself, “What can’t I do?“
Ask yourself,
“What can I still train?”
Because in most cases, the answer is: far more than you think.
🧪 Let’s Experiment
An injury doesn’t have to stop your training.
It just changes what training looks like.
Our brains are surprisingly good at turning a local problem into a whole-body problem.
So, the easiest thing after an injury is to put your entire routine on hold.
The harder—but often better—choice is to adapt it.
🎯 Try This:
The next time you catch yourself saying,
“I can’t train because of my injury.”
Pause and ask yourself a different question:
“What could I train today without making my injury worse?”
Maybe it’s your other leg.
Maybe it’s your upper body.
Maybe it’s walking, cycling or simply keeping your daily step count.
The goal isn’t perfection.
The goal is to keep the habit alive.
🧠 Final Thought:
Sometimes the biggest setback isn’t the injury itself. It’s stopping everything else.