HOW TO PREVENT RUNNING INJURIES

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HOW TO PREVENT RUNNING INJURIES
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Research shows that nearly half of all
recreational runners get injuries. As a runner,
nothing is worse than being sidelined because of
pain. Runners are usually in tune with their
bodies except for when it comes to injuries, as
most ignore the warning signs and try to muddle
through. Both elite runners and novices
experience setbacks during training. The secret
is to recognize and catch any minor symptoms so
they can be addressed before an injury sidelines
you. Minor symptoms usually only require
modification in training, while more severe
injuries need a complete break from running. We
will outline how you can prevent running injuries
with a few minor changes. You cant completely
prevent running injuries, but you can certainly
minimize the chances of developing an injury by
understanding and correcting the causes.  Most
of the pains and strains caused by running result
from inadequate rest, overtraining, and poor
mechanics. The good news is that these are easily
addressable by a Strong body, Good Form, and
Proper Training!
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• Inadequate Rest Period 
• Our muscles and bones get stronger when they are
  pushed past their comfort zone and given the time
  they need to heal. Our strength, speed, and
  endurance only improve through work or training.
  The training causes stress on the musculoskeletal
  and cardiovascular systems, leading to
  microscopic breakdowns in the muscle and bones. A
  rest period allows the musculoskeletal system to
  build up even more robust. Without the rest
  period, the body does not get a chance to reform
  and rebuild stronger. Instead, continuation of
  the same exercise cuses the same stress on the
  weakened and vulnerable tissue.
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• Adequate rest is just as important as training to
  improve physical strength and endurance.
• The runners high is often questioned, as many
  runners say they dont experience it, but they
  certainly know when they dont run. Its like a
  hidden euphoria. A day off for a runner is
  usually filled with guilt and a feeling of
  lethargy. So many runners skip their day off for
  fear of losing conditioning when the opposite is
  true. Without that adequate rest period, minor
  strains build into tendinosis and, when left
  unchecked even stress fractures. Muscle strain is
  part of conditioning but the muscle needs time to
  recover and improve.
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Rest days dont mean sitting on the couch. The
best way to speed up the healing after hard
training is to keep the blood pumping, but with a
different activity. Swimming, biking, elliptical,
weight training, yoga, and even walking are all
great for your active rest days. Any
cross-training that helps increase blood flow
will speed up recovery. 2. OVERTRAINING Overtra
ining is the 1 cause of running injuries. Adding
too many miles and training at too high of an
intensity without listening to your body leads to
a disaster. The 80/20 rule of training leads to
the best outcome. 80 consistent and 20
high-intensity workout 80 of your workouts
should be at your normal pace, but 20 should be
at a high intensity. To increase distance, you
should only have a 10-15 increase in mileage
added each week. Pace yourself. You can push
hard, but do it in steps to slowly build up
injury-free. 
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Remember to listen to your body and know your
limits. Injury is likely your only outcome if you
keep pushing yourself to meet grandiose goals.
Once you feel sluggish, your body slows down, or
times decrease, these are warning signs STOP,
reduce your time or distance or even take a day
or two and take time to recover.  Overuse
injuries most commonly affect our muscle tendons.
Tendons are thick, fibrous bands with poor blood
supply. Tendons are secret weapons for athletes
because they function to save energy, control
movements, and improve explosive power! Tendon
health is so critical in sports because healthy
tendons improve sports performance. When your
tendon is symptomatic, along with pain, there are
also changes in your motor response. Even when
you no longer have pain, individuals with
previous injuries to their tendons have lost some
of that explosive power they once had. It is
difficult for the tendon to regain its innate
power after injury. You, therefore, want to catch
and prevent any damage to your tendons. To avoid
injury, you must gradually add miles or intensity
to your training and ensure that you allow
adequate active rest for healing.
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3. Poor Technique If you are putting in mileage
and able to increase your intensity free of
injury, then there is no need to change or alter
something that is working. But if youre having
pain or running at a high level, your mechanics
should be assessed as minor tweaks in your form
can make dramatic improvements. There is no
perfect running form, but there are ways to
optimize performance and prevent injury with good
posture and proper stride. Curtesy of
https//www.scottholmespt.com Good posture or
column building Your back and head should be
straight and facing forward with your ears over
your shoulders, and your hips, knees, and ankles
should be in the same plane.  Arms should hang
loosely at your sides Your arms should hang
comfortably and move forward and back in tandem
with your stride. Land lightly on the outside of
your foot with your ankle bone high Land on the
outside of your foot and maintain the arch in
your ankle your leg forms a bow shape as it
gets ready to transfer the energy or propel your
forward.
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Swing leg Lift off with your heel out When
your foot comes off the ground and during swing,
your heel should be pointed outward and not
inward. This helps to propel energy forward and
prevent valgus stress on the knee (knock knee)
and ankle (pronation), both of which have a high
rate of injury. Run with rotation Humans do not
run in a linear movement our innate movement
pattern is rotary. Our hip has a ball, and socket
joint is built for rotation. As you propel
forward, your hip slightly internally rotates to
assist. Lead with your hips The hip should
initiate the running motion instead of your feet
as they are the center of your body. This helps
prevent overstriding. Avoid overstriding Overstr
iding occurs when the foot lands well ahead of
the knee. Over-stride causes increased stress on
your heel and other joints.
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4. Muscle Tightness Weakness Stretching
promotes flexibility and is required to keep you
limber, especially after any increase in mileage
or intensity of running. The increase in your
training will cause a breakdown. As the
microtears in your muscles heal, they also
tighten, and the muscle becomes shorter. If the
muscle heals in a shortened position, it can
alter proper running mechanics, and the muscle
and soft tissue will be more prone to injury.
Stretching only takes 5-10 minutes and allows the
muscle to heal with the proper length and
resilience. Stretching also helps the muscles
warmed-up and cool down by increasing their blood
flow. Increasing blood flow before a run is
helpful, but after is even more beneficial since
it speeds up recovery and reduces lactic acid
build-up from more challenging runs.  Muscle
weakness and imbalances can also harm your
running form and make you more prone to injury.
It is common for runners to have weak abdominals
and posterior (glut, hip, hamstring) compared to
the anterior muscles.
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5. Lack of Cross-Training Strength
Exercises Add strength training to your weekly
schedule. A brick house is better than a straw
house when it comes to withstanding a storm.
Similarly, strong muscles, tendons, and ligaments
hold better form and protect the body against
impact. In the battle against injury, a runners
best armor is a strong body.   The stronger you
are, the more efficient your muscles fire, which
enables you to run with greater control and
stability. The stronger your muscles, the less
likely they will break down. Strength training
will help to increase your muscle tone.
Plyometrics or jumping help increase your
elasticity or the power in your tendons and
reduce the impact on landing.
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6. Running surface Sudden change or new running
surface can cause injury. Many runners run on
concrete. This hard surface is not forgiving, but
our bodies gradually accommodate stress, so as
long as you progressively build, your body will
adapt, and your bones will become stronger and
withstand this hard surface. It would be best if
you also were cognoscente of road camber or the
way the road slopes on edge to allow water
run-off. If you always run on one side of the
road, your leg closer to the road will be high
and the other lower. This uneven stance causes an
imbalance and can eventually cause injury. Trail
running is not as hard on our joints but does
impact our ankle integrity. Trails will improve
your balance and proprioception as you must have
excellent ankle reaction force to navigate the
uneven ground. But again, if you are not used to
trail running, you need to be more cautious with
the uneven ground. Both wooded trails and
concrete have positive impacts and need to be
gradually accommodated.
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7. Worn Out Footwear Ensure that your sneakers
are not worn out and cause your foot to land
incorrectly. Every 350-600 miles or every six
months, you should replace your sneakers if you
run regularly. When shoes are worn, they can
cause you to slip on wet surfaces, but more
importantly, if they are compressed on one side,
they will cause your foot to cave in. For
example, if you are pronated and land more on the
inside of your foot, the inner part of your shoe
will wear down, further increasing the amount of
pronation. Your sneaker should fit your
biomechanics. Specialty-running-store assessments
are helpful but not foolproof because you rely on
the salespersons knowledge. The best advice is
to go by comfort. Generally, the sneaker that
feels best has the right amount of firmness that
is correct for you. If you have discomfort
after youve run in a pair of shoes, it might be
a sign youre in the wrong ones. If your shoe
feels good, its likely a good one for
you.
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