Training with a Broken Hand?

So I’ve just broken a bone in my hand,obviously this means I can’t train as normal. Does anyone have any ideas for exercises for my upper body I can do without any pain?

  • Back extensions
  • Seated fly machine (where your arms form a right angle)

If you have access to an ankle strap, plenty of cable stuff can be done.

I broke mine and was training it again in about 6 weeks pain free.

6 Weeks? Thats awesome, I was told 3 months by the doc. I was thinking about hooking the handle around my wrist somehow,but I didn’t know whether that would work or not. Zercher squats shouldn’t put any stress on my hands should they?Dont want a staple diet of smith machine squats

I would budget for 3 months (I’m sure breaks are not all identical), look to improve other things in the time being

  • fitness
  • flexibility/mobility
  • learning/career stuff

I’m not sure about zerchers as the weight gets heavy, it is normal to grip the hands together.


I broke my middle finger hiking a few summers back (was climbing up a boulder and my foot slipped and my hand went straight into the rock, kind of like when you jam your finger catching a basketball). I basically found ways to work around it, just kind of experimenting to see what I could do and what I couldn’t. My advice would be to try whatever movements with very light weight and see how your hand feels before going heavier. I was in the gym within about a week or so of braking it, although I had to wait a little longer for certain exercises (deadlifts and shrugs in particular, and barbell curls- although hammer curls were fine because they weren’t flat on the palm where the injury was).