SHOULD YOU RUN WHEN INJURED?
The risk versus reward needs to be considered. If continuing to run will have long-term impact on the injury, you should stop for a short period of time. We know that no runner likes their health professional when they advise them to stop running. If fact, in some cases it has actually been shown to be beneficial to keep a runner running even when injured. As long as pain levels are managed below 3/10 (on a pain scale of 0 being no pain and 10 being the worst pain). Clearly the intensity and volume may be drastically reduced, but the deconditioning from not training at all can actually be more harmful in the long run. This needs to be discussed with your chosen health professional. You can always cross train during a period of injury recovery.
In the case of bone stress injuries and highly reactive tendinopathies, running will have to be stopped. Before returning to running you should be pain free on impact testing like jogging, jumping and hopping on the spot.
A 24 HOUR PATTERN
Use the 24 hour pattern to monitor a your body’s reaction to load. If pain does not settle within 24 hours, running volume should be reduced. Be aware that you may adopt a compensatory running style to avoid loading painful areas, which may lead to altered loading and injury in other areas.
ONE SIZE DOES NOT FIT ALL
Too often runners have a training plan from a friend or club, or downloaded off the internet and they are performing generic exercises found on social media. This is not ideal as no two runners are the same. Adjustments to training plans and specialised strength training programmes should be discussed with a suitably qualified trainer or health professional.
At Blackberry Clinic, we hope to start up our running clinic again soon!
