Running’s popularity has been steadily increasing since the 1970’s and based off of working at a running store, it has exploded during this pandemic.Running has allowed people to get out of the house, possibly away from their children and in the fresh air.This is fantastic as running is not only one of the most popular but also one of the most efficient ways to achieve fitness and improving ones longevity. The down fall of running is injury risk is extremely high; with some reports having 80% of runners sustaining an injury each year.
Why does running lead to so many injuries?
Majority of running injuries are not what we would consider “acute” injuries, but are instead overuse injuries. This is due to the continuos high forces that the body has not been properly adapted too. During running our body is subject to forces that are typically 3 times our body weight. These increased repetitive forces lead to injuries that include, stress fractures, soft tissue strains, shin splints, neuromuscular issues etc.The good news about “overuse” injuries are they can typically be avoided with proper precautions.
What do new runner’s do that lead to overuse injuries?
Go hard every single day
We have all been there. Post holidays, your grandma has single handedly made you put 12.6 lbs on and you look in the mirror and you think I am going to run every single day. Bad news is you haven’t run in months, and no doubt are going to hurt yourself, which then will leave you sidelined for weeks while you try to recover.
Poor Footwear
Although the primary intervention most runner try to implement into their shoes is having either a “stability” or “neutral” shoe and including insert in it to help limit pronation; however there is “Little evidence for pronation and impact forces as risk factors despite being considered primary predictors of running injuries.” The best predictor to reduce injury according to recent research is choosing the shoe based off of comfort. A 2015 BJSM study “Running shoes and running injuries: mythbusting and a proposal for two new paradigms: ‘preferred movement path’ and ‘comfort filter’” found “Shoe conditions that are more comfortable are associated with a lower movement-related injury frequency than shoe conditions that are less comfortable.” And “Shoe conditions that are comfortable are associated with less oxygen consumption than shoe conditions that are less comfortable.” So moral of the story is find a high quality running shoe that is most comfortable for you, it will lead you to perform better and get injured less.
Only training in the sagittal plane..
Running for the most part occurs solely in the sagittal plane, aka only going forward and back. The bad news is we need to train the muscles that help us going side to side and rotationally, to help prevent injuries.The Hip musculature, specifically the glute medius, helps control knee from going into knee valgus. Excessive knee valgus has been linked to Patella Femoral Pain Syndrome and IT band syndrome; two of the most common running injuries
Lack Baseline Strength
Most people who begin to run typically do not have proper strength in the core and lower extremity to withstand the demands of running. Improving strength in the lower extremity and core will allow for greater work capacity. This increase in strength will not only reduce injuries, but also improve performance.
How to properly get into running safely?
Start slow
Walk run progressions are my favorite way to get people back into running. This may include running for 1 minute and walking 2 minutes then gradually progressing with increasing running time and decreasing walking. Another bit of advise is to slowly build your mileage up. The general recommendation most people give, is you do not want to increase your mileage by more than 10% per week.
Schedule easy days
Every day doesn’t have to be 100%. Instead include plenty of days that you are slowly jogging and can maintain for 30+ minutes. A great way to find that perfect recovery pace is to find a pace that you are comfortably able to have a conversation at. This will not only help aid in your recovery, but it will also help build your aerobic base.
Go get yourself fit for shoes
Shoes can play a critical role in keeping a runner healthy. As I mentioned above finding a shoes that is comfortable is most important. Another side notes for when you are preparing to go get running shoes.
1. You typically want your running shoes to be a little bit bigger than your lifestyle shoes. This extra room is to help allows your foot to expand while running to properly absorb forces,
as well as to leave some room for when your foot begins to swell
2. Running shoes should only be worn for 300-500 miles. After this they begin to lose some of their cushioned properties and put you at greater risk for injury.
3. Consider getting two different pair of shoes. This is in part because shoes cushioning needs 24 hours to “recover” after each run. As well as different shoes are made differently, thus challenging our body’s in new ways. When we wear each shoe, this will be working different muscles and may lead to less overuse injuries.
Cross train
Biggest tip when lifting to supplement running, is to lift heavier. To stimulate proper adaptations to reduce injury we must lift heavier with runners.Most runners, focus on high reps, however what is the purpose as your already do this plenty of volume with your running.Instead go heavier and challenge your body in a new way. Another tip, if possible is to try to spread your lifting and running sessions out by at least 4 hours.This will help limit the interference affect.
Make it enjoyable
There is no point in doing anything if you don’t enjoy it. So find a friend, or my favorite a local brewery with a running club and make it enjoyable. If we are able to make exercise more communitive and enjoyable, retention numbers would significantly improve. Although I don’t agree with all of Crossfits principals, one thing they are extremely successful with is making it a communitive environment which offers new members a wonderful support system.