Should I Rest My Injury?

by Simon Cabot, Clinical Director, Physiotherapist & Longevity Lead for Better Physio Group.

Simon Cabot is a Chronic Pain and Longevity Specialist with over 30 years of experience. He sees patients at Better’s Soho clinic.

Book a session or free video call with Simon.

Check out his recent interview with Charlie Goodchild in The Physio Coach Podcast below.

One of the first questions almost every patient asks me is something along the lines of: 

“Should I rest after my injury?” 

or

“Should I rest my muscle strain?”

For most injuries, the goal isn’t complete rest. The goal is relative rest. 

Finding the right balance between movement, exercise and recovery is one of the most important parts of healing.

Rest too much and your body can become weaker, stiffer and slower to recover.

Do too much too soon and you can overload healing tissues and delay your progress. 

The art of rehabilitation is finding that sweet spot. 

Relative rest means reducing or modifying the activities that aggravate your injury while continuing to move and exercise as much as your body safely allows. 

Rather than stopping everything, you simply adjust the amount and type of activity. 

For example: 

• A runner with an Achilles injury may temporarily stop running but continue cycling or swimming. 

• Someone with a shoulder injury can often continue walking, exercising their legs and performing lower-body strength work. 

• A person with a sprained ankle may reduce walking initially but begin gentle movement exercises very early in recovery. 

The aim is to keep your body active while giving the injured tissue the best environment to heal. 

Yes. To an extent.

Certain injuries require a period of immobilisation or strict protection, including: 

• Some fractures (broken bones) 

• Certain tendon or ligament repairs after surgery 

• Some severe muscle tears 

• Injuries where your healthcare professional specifically advises immobilisation 

Even then, complete inactivity is rarely necessary. 

If you’ve broken your leg, you may still be able to train your upper body. If you’ve injured your shoulder, you can often continue exercising your legs. 

One injured body part doesn’t mean your whole body has to stop. 

In fact, maintaining your overall fitness often speeds up your return to normal activity. 

For most acute injuries, gentle movement is introduced surprisingly early. 

That doesn’t mean pushing through pain or trying to “train” the injury. 

It means carefully introducing movements that help: 

• Maintain joint mobility 

• Reduce stiffness 

• Improve circulation 

• Encourage healthy tissue healing 

• Prevent unnecessary muscle loss 

Initially these movements may be very gentle. 

As healing progresses, those movements gradually become exercises. 

Then those exercises become strength work. 

Eventually they become the activities you actually want to return to. 

Recovery isn’t a switch – it’s a progression. 

One of the biggest misconceptions is that healing comes from rest alone. 

In reality, tissues become stronger through a cycle of: 

Load → Recover → Adapt → Reload 

Exercise provides the stimulus. 

Rest allows your body to repair and adapt. 

Without enough load, tissues don’t become stronger. 

Without enough recovery, tissues don’t have time to rebuild. 

Both are essential. 

The answer changes throughout your rehabilitation. 

Early after an injury, you might perform small amounts of movement several times each day. 

When I worked with elite athletes, it wasn’t unusual for them to complete rehabilitation exercises 10 or more times a day. These sessions were short, gentle and carefully controlled. 

As recovery progresses, however, rehabilitation changes. 

Exercises become harder. 

Weights become heavier. 

Running becomes faster. 

Sports become more demanding. 

Because the loads increase, the body also needs longer recovery periods between sessions. 

This is why rehabilitation isn’t simply about doing more – it’s about doing the right amount at the right time. 

One of the best guides during rehabilitation is how your body responds. 

Ask yourself: 

• How do I feel later today? 

• How do I feel tomorrow morning? 

• Has my pain settled back to its usual level? 

• Can I perform today’s activities without feeling significantly worse? 

If you exercise today and tomorrow you’re much more painful, swollen or stiff, you’ve probably exceeded what your body was ready for. 

That doesn’t mean you’ve damaged yourself – it simply means your current load was too high. 

Next time you may need to reduce the intensity, duration or frequency slightly. 

On the other hand, if you complete your exercises and wake up feeling comfortable, your body may be ready for a little more challenge. 

Successful rehabilitation is a continual process of adjusting the dial between loading and recovery. 

As people return to sport or higher levels of activity, rehabilitation becomes more like athletic training. 

Instead of working hard every day, we begin to periodise exercise. 

This simply means alternating: 

• Heavier days 

• Lighter recovery days 

• Rest days when needed 

This allows your body to absorb the training, recover properly and continue improving without becoming overloaded. 

Elite athletes have used this approach for decades. 

Increasingly, we use exactly the same principles for everyday people recovering from injury. 

One person’s ideal recovery plan won’t necessarily suit someone else. 

Your recovery depends on factors such as: 

• Your age 

• The type of injury 

• Your general fitness 

• Sleep quality 

• Nutrition 

• Stress levels 

• Previous injuries 

• Medical conditions 

• Your work and daily activities 

This is one reason why rehabilitation should always be individualised. 

At Better Physio Group, we look beyond the injured tissue. 

Healing isn’t determined only by the exercises you perform. 

It’s also influenced by the lifestyle factors that support your body’s ability to recover. 

Our approach focuses on five key pillars of health: 

• Movement – finding the right balance between loading and recovery. 

• Nutrition – giving your body the building blocks it needs for tissue repair. 

• Sleep – where much of the body’s healing actually occurs. 

• Stress – because chronic stress can slow recovery and increase pain sensitivity. 

• Relationships – social support, confidence and feeling understood all play an important role in successful rehabilitation. 

When these five pillars work together, recovery is often faster, more resilient and more sustainable. 

For most injuries, complete rest isn’t the answer. 

Neither is pushing through pain. 

The goal is finding the right balance between movement, loading and recovery. 

Your body is constantly adapting to what you ask of it. Too little challenge and it won’t become stronger. Too much challenge and recovery falls behind. 

Successful rehabilitation is about gradually adjusting that balance as your body heals. 

If you’re unsure how much activity is right for your injury, a physiotherapist can help you find that sweet spot – allowing you to recover with confidence and return to doing the things you love sooner. 

My philosophy is simple: healing is about more than just fixing the body. True wellness arises from addressing every aspect of life. That’s why my treatments are grounded in a holistic framework, integrating movement, nutrition, sleep, stress management, and relationships. I work not just to alleviate your pain but to empower you to take control of their health and live longer, fuller lives.

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