Back in November 2025, I wrecked my knee.
Not a little tweak. Not a “walk it off.” I couldn’t walk without a limp. Squatting was out. Lunging was out. Getting off the floor required strategy and negotiation.
As a coach, that hit harder than the injury itself. Ninety percent of my job is demonstrating movement and modeling effort.
How do you inspire strength when you can’t even descend a flight of stairs without thinking about it?
And the bigger question:
How do you train when you can’t train the way you’re used to?
Here are three mindset shifts that carried me through:
1. Identify What’s Possible
When something breaks, the instinct is to focus on what’s gone.
I couldn’t squat. Couldn’t hinge heavy. Couldn’t load carries. So for a week or two, I mentally spiraled around all the things I wasn’t doing.
Then I flipped the question:
What can I do?
My left knee was the problem, and I refused to overload the right side to compensate. So traditional leg training was off the table. Instead, my physical therapy exercises became my leg workouts. Controlled range. Slow tempo. Precision over ego.
Was it glamorous? No.
Was it productive? Absolutely.
Rehab became training.
2. Don’t Overcompensate
My upper body was fine. Which meant I had a choice:
Turn every push-up session into a revenge tour…
Or train like a professional.
I chose simple. Push-ups. Pull-ups. Moderate volume. Lower rep schemes. No max-effort heroics.
When you’re injured, the temptation is to hammer the healthy parts to feel “normal.” That’s how you collect a second injury.
Strength is built by restraint as much as intensity.
3. Redefine What a “Workout” Means
This was the real growth.
For years, a workout meant sweat, iron, loaded carries, and some variation of suffering with purpose.
With half of that unavailable, I had to expand the definition.
My workouts became focused on protecting recovery like it was a max-effort lift:
• Getting to bed earlier.
• Dialing in nutrition.
• Cutting back on alcohol.
• Managing stress.
And here’s the honest part: Those were some of the hardest workouts I’ve done in years.
The result?
I’m leaner than I’ve been in a long time. My sleep is consistent. My habits are sharper. My awareness of movement is better.
The injury forced an upgrade.
Final Thought
Injury is not a pause button. It’s a pivot.
You may not be able to train the way you want. But you can always train something. Movement. Recovery. Discipline. Nutrition. Patience.
Strength isn’t just what you can lift–it’s how you adapt when you can’t. And sometimes the most productive training block of your life starts with a limp.
Thanks for reading!
-Geoff