1. Know your limits
We would like to think of ourselves as this awesomely fit person who can handle anything we want to do. Let’s not kid ourselves here we are not professional athletes that train 5-6 days a week and let’s not forget out how much money they throw into recovery with all their high tech and costly devices. Nope not us that’s why were in therapy right lol. Even the weekend warrior needs to know their limits so let’s follow the 10% rule. Which basically means we don’t increase our activity by more than 10% at any given time in a given week? So if you haven’t spent more than 6 hours cleaning out the garage, the back yard, doing house work and trying to do those crazy hard exercises you got off the internet on a daily basis what makes you think you can handle it now? Nope you’re just asking for issues
2. Listen to your body
You know that little voice in your head, you know the one you never listen to? Well that also happens to be our pain and your (voice) telling you should stop doing what you’re doing, like NOW lol. If you have pain that worsens with activity that causes you to alter your gait or the way you’re doing something you need to stop, take some time off maybe 3 days and substitute light walking, biking, swimming or cycling for the painful activity.
3. Shorten your stride
Some of us may be over striders, especially if your prone to injuries that prevent you from running. A longer stride decreases efficiency and causes us to put the brake on so to speak which translates into increased stress every time you land. Next time you’re out running pick a short distance and try to shorten your stride by 10% and see what kind of affect you have. to be optimal you need to be landing under neath your body and not out in front of you. In addition to shortening the stride lets get you to feeling like you are leaning from the ankle with a falling fwd feeling every time you land that will also help decrease the stride and get you landing under your body.
4. Strength train
I know I hear all of you now, but I run all the time. Well how many injuries have you had and do you have one now? Soo..hows that working out for you? All joking aside just because we run 2 or 3 or even 5 times a week doesn’t mean we are working on strengthening the muscles which it take for you to go on that run nor does it mean that your strong. You use a lot of abductors, adductors, glutes, hamstrings and core muscles when you run and probably didn’t even know that and all those muscles equals balance and symmetry for you to operate at an efficient ( pain and injury free ) level. so include at least 2 days a week of some sort of strength training thats not running.
5. R.I.C.E
Yes the old acronym we all know Rest, Ice, Compression, and Elevation and true you may ice once in a while but are you resting, using compression or elevating? If you run then ice and run then ice then the answer is NO. You’re not giving your body the rest it needs to recover
6. Run on a level surface
Road running is popular, easy and free, but did you know that most roads are chambered meaning that they slope to either side from the middle? We know we are supposed to run against traffic for safety which means on the right side of the road but that subsequently forces limited pronation on one side and excessive pronation on the other in an unbalanced way and can lead to injury so consider, sidewalks, running paths, tracks, bike trails and even the trust old tread mill.
7. Limit the speed training
Most of us want to get faster but speed and interval training in the same week that we run or race is a recipe for disaster. If you’re training at near maximal effort and then racing in the same week then you may not be getting ample rest and recovery time. The lure of getting faster is high but for those mid to back of the pack people the 5% increase in speed may not be worth the 25% increase in risk of injury. Running experts recommend only doing 5-10% of your training at your 5K race pace.
8. Try cross training (NOT CROSS FIT)
Our bodies benefit greatly from at least one day of non running training to recover from the shock absorbing forces produced during running which can be as high as 2-3 times our body weight and even more with downhill running. People who are prone to injury are highly encouraged to stay away from back to back days of running as well. Instead try swimming, cycling, rowing, an elliptical machine, or HIT to improve aerobic fitness in an non injury provoking way.
9. STRETCH
Do I really need to say anything more, I mean come on you all know by now that you don’t stretch enough.
10. Get some shoes that fit
If you are going to be runner invest in proper footwear, you are putting your feet through some intense situations right? Protect your feet they are carrying you every day, literally. See a professional that can fit you for a shoe that will help but don’t expect to correct a muscle imbalance or training error from a shoe. Shoes are preventive and supportive and the first part of the kinetic chain in running. For the rest of it come see us and we’ll get you back on the road ( flat road).
Source: Runner’s World
