From the BSMC Blog

Andy Allan, Torquay Physiotherapist, gives his top tips to avoid a Running Injury!

by | Oct 25, 2018

Top 5 Ways to avoid getting a running injury!

Spring is here!

As the sun comes out & the days get longer, more runners start to come out of their winter hibernation – some just love running, others have marathons and half marathons to tackle.

Did you know that returning to running (or rapidly increasing your mileage) after an extended lay-off brings with it a big risk of developing an injury in the first 6 weeks?

Follow these tips to reduce the chance of becoming a broken runner!

 

Work out your “running tolerance”

  • Not running enough can lead to detraining and actually increase your risk of injury, while running too much can lead to overloading your muscles, tendons and joints.
  • Your running tolerance is how far you can run with only a small amount of discomfort (a maximum of 2/10 pain that doesn’t last after you stop running).
  • With the right training you can increase your running tolerance and run further and faster!

 

Increase your distance gradually

  • You should aim to increase your total kilometers by about 10% each week to safely run further.

 

Include high and low intensity runs

  • As a general rule, aim to do 80% of your training at low intensity (that’s between a light and moderate effort) and 20% at high intensity (moderate to very hard runs, including speed work).

 

Recovery

  • PLAN a recovery day (or days) into your week. A recovery session could be a recovery run, pilates, spin class, swim, or even a yoga session.

    Consider a ‘recovery week’ every 4-6 weeks to allow your muscles and joints to fully regenerate.

 

Strength & Conditioning

  • Increase the strength of your key muscles (quads, glutes, calves, hamstrings) to increase your strength, speed, and importantly your buffer zone. Aim for 2 session per week and make sure you add more resistance than just body weight.

 

We’d love to help you with your running goals – if you’re not sure where to start or have broken down we are experts at helping runners get back and stay on the track!

 

Andy Allan

Physiotherapist (and Running Enthusiast)

[email protected]