How to Keep Training Around a Joint That Hurts
You keep training. You change what you are asking the joint to do, not whether you do anything at all. That means dropping the loads that hit it in the position that hurts, keeping everything that does not, and working in the range where the joint still behaves, so you have something left to progress. Stopping is the expensive option.
Rest is a pause, not a plan
A cranky knee or a shoulder that flares up usually gets you 1 of 2 answers. Rest it, or push through. Rest is the medical answer and it is right for the first few days after something acute happens. It stops being right around week 2, when the joint has calmed down and the rest of your body has spent 2 weeks losing ground waiting on it. Push through is the gym answer, and it is how a 2 week problem turns into a 6 month one. Neither one is a plan, because a plan tells you what you are doing on Thursday.
Your joint has a range where it still works
Almost nothing hurts everywhere. Your knee that yells going down stairs is usually quiet in a wall sit. Your shoulder that will not tolerate an overhead press will often do a resistance band pull apart without a word. Find that range and make it your working range for now. You are not avoiding the joint, you are training the part of it that is still available, and that is what keeps the muscle around it from deflating while the angry part settles. Start every session by testing the range, not by assuming it is the same as last week. Some days you get more of it back and you will not know unless you check.
Change the movement, keep the muscle
Most people drop the whole muscle when they only needed to drop one exercise. Your hips still need work when your knee is complaining, so a bodyweight hip thrust does the job a squat was doing. Your shoulder still needs work when overhead is off the table, so a band standing external rotation and a suitcase carry keep the area loaded. The rule is to keep training the muscle group and change the tool. Swapping out the exercise costs you almost nothing. Swapping out the muscle costs you 6 weeks you will spend rebuilding later.
Progress the things the joint is not deciding
This is the part almost nobody gets to. When a joint caps your load, you still have reps, sets, tempo, range and rest to work with. Add a rep before you add a pound. Slow the lowering to 3 seconds and the same weight gets meaningfully harder without asking more of the joint. Add an inch of range when the range comes back. Cut 15 seconds off your rest. All 5 of those are progressive overload, and all 5 are available when the weight on the bar is not. If you are only tracking weight, a bad joint looks like 3 months of no progress. It usually was not.
Where to go from here
Changing the movement instead of quitting it. Start with training with bad knees without running or jumping, then why the lifts you skip are the ones telling you what is weak, why stretching alone does not hold, core work that spares your back instead of straining it, and how you brace and breathe under load. Progressing when the joint sets the ceiling. Read how your strong side covers for the weak one, and training your core to resist movement rather than flex your spine. After the clinic. Start with bridging the gap after physical therapy ends. The other 23 hours. Read what pins a shoulder for hours while you sleep.
So remember
Your body is not going to follow anybody's timeline on this, and 2 people with the same scan get different answers. A rigid plan breaks the first week your knee has an opinion, because it was never built to have one. Find Your Fitness Inc builds programs around your injuries, your equipment, your schedule and your goals, so a flared up joint changes the week instead of ending it. You have more room to work with than it feels like right now.
Should I stop working out if a joint hurts?
Not usually. Stop the specific movement that loads the joint in the position that hurts, and keep training everything else. Full rest is the right call for the first few days after an acute injury, and after that it costs you more than it returns. If the pain is sharp, new, or came with swelling or instability, see a professional before you decide anything.
How do I know if I should train through joint pain?
Test it in the warm up rather than deciding in advance. Pain that eases as you warm up and stays the same or better the next morning is usually workable. Pain that gets worse set to set, changes how you move, or is worse the next day means you have found the edge of the range and you work under it instead.
What exercises can I do with a bad knee?
Anything that does not load the knee in the range that hurts. A wall sit, a bodyweight hip thrust and bodyweight calf raises all train the leg without asking the knee to bend under load through its painful range. The specific answer depends on which range hurts, which is why testing beats a list.
How do I keep making progress if I cannot add weight?
Weight is 1 of 6 ways to progress. Add reps, add sets, slow the tempo, add range, cut rest, or improve control at the same load. Any of those makes the session harder while the joint decides how much weight it is willing to take.