What Can You Do To Prevent Running Injuries?
This is a question I have asked myself since runners knee sidelined my running career in high school. Running is a sport, hobby, stress reliever, and a way of life. However, there are many runners who are running with an ache or pain, or are sidelined with an injury every year.
The statistic is around 70% of distance runners suffer from a running-related injury every year…. That’s crazy! With this knowledge, we should be doing everything we can to work on running injury prevention.
But how can we prevent injuries as runners? There are three big things you’ll need to know to decrease your risk of injury and become a more bulletproof runner.
How to Prevent Running Injuries
Develop proper running form
Deepen mobility
Add strength training to your training regime
Number 1: Work on your running form!
Most runners I have the pleasure of working with never actually work on their running form. They just go out and run in a way that feels natural. The problem with this is, well, running is a skill! It needs to be trained and practiced, just like throwing a ball or shooting a basketball.
Improving your running form can solve things like runner's knee, shin splints, plantar fasciitis, IT Band Syndrome, and so on.
Number 2: Mobility.
Again, most runners I work with do not have a regular mobility routine in practice. Stretching is a part of mobility (as well as foam rolling or lacrosse ball work) however, having a regular mobility routine is key to moving well and running well.
A great example of the importance of mobility is ankle mobility. Many runners have tight ankles, which limits your knees-over-toes motion. There is a degree of this knees-over-toes motion with every step we take.
If we lose this mobility, we’ll compensate when running (our knee might cave in, foot may pronate more), which can lead to aches, pains, and injuries over time.
Number 3: Strength Training.
Contrary to popular belief, if all you do is run, it does not make you stronger. It can have the opposite effect!
If you are putting in some serious mileage, maintaining your strength should be a serious concern and a priority. Not only that, strength training has many other benefits that running does not offer.
Another popular myth to bust is that running is NOT a great way to improve your bone density. It’s a mediocre way to improve your bone density. Do you know what the best way to improve your bone density is?
Strength training. These are just a few of the benefits strength training can offer us runners to help us stay injury-free and ache/pain-free.
Prevent Running Injuries Over Time
This is the basic injury prevention formula for a long career as a distance runner: Work on your running form, mobility, and strength train. It’s that simple - well… sort of. This is the framework for running injury prevention, but you must do the work.
Running Injury Prevention Formula = Form + Mobility + Strength
But you don’t have to do it alone! You can try this on your own, but if you’re looking to get serious about your running and aspire to have a long running career, we can help.
Our team members at Alpha Project Phyzio see runners all the time looking to get over their aches, pain, and injuries and get back to running better and learn how to take care of their bodies on their own. We help people with plantar fasciitis, Achilles tendonitis, iliotibial band syndrome, shin splints, hamstring strain, and much more!
If you’re interested in working with a running expert and physical therapist click the button below.
