An increasing amount of people choose running as their main activity for keeping themselves fit and healthy, and the challenge we face is ” how much and how often” we should run.
You may be thinking that taking the first steps can be hard, worrying about injury and ‘overdoing it’. There are many factors which can contribute and lead to an injury and they are unique for each person. However, we have a few risk factors established, associated with running related injuries.
We have what is called “training Error“, for example, when we don’t allow enough rest between the sessions, or we have periods of high volume of training followed by long periods of inactivity. In other words, how much “training error” our body can tolerate, in order to start and progress without injuries.
A history of a previous injury is also a major risk factor. We are looking for muscular weaknesses, stiffness, imbalance or a protective habit remained after an injury, which can be related to a new one.
Additionally, psychological and social factors can contribute, as seen lately with running events cancelled, running clubs and gyms closed, people working from home and unable to see family or friends.
Changes like these can have an effect on someone’s goals, running routine and mentality.
80% of the injuries are from overuse, though the overall load may not be as important as the Rate of change in Load, a rapid increase of the load.
There are things we can do to prevent an injury;
At the beginning, we need to find how much running we tolerate and how we feel within 36-48h after the run. Then we repeat the same run three times to find the average and use it as the baseline.
We make a weekly schedule of specific running days and times, and we add an exercise program if needed.
We determine the overall volume of the week, how we should progress depending on our goals, also the type or the run and the running surface.
Nonetheless, we take into consideration how much we do of other forms of exercise & physical activities, such as cycling or cleaning.
At the end, sleeping well, having a good diet and coping well with stress, can maintain and boost our performance too. The answer is to start slow and to progress in small increments to avoid injury and to optimise enjoyment and gradual improvement in fitness. A fitness app such as the NHS Couch to 5K may help you, check it out and give it a go.
If you need advice about an injury or how to start running safely, make an appointment with one of our physiotherapists to get you on the road!
Hope you found this information helpful and enjoy your runs!
Physiotherapist, Blackberry Clinic Milton Keynes
