4 of the Best Injury Prevention Tips for Runners

You may have just started running again after a lay off during the Summer Holiday season. You may have a fun run planned or just want to get fit again through running training. To help you stay injury free and keep you on the move we have come up with following 4 Tips.

Tip One – Increase Slowly:
Many people impatient at their slow progress and want peak performance after a month they go from a summer holiday to attempting a marathon in 4 weeks – this is a recipe for disaster. Make sure you increase your running and training times by small increments only – a 5 -10% increase in either distance or time each week is plenty and will ensure you stay pain free. One of the biggest predictors of injury in runners is rapidly increasing training volume – the more training you do the greater the risk it is simple maths.

Tip Two – Check your Shoes:
Many people get excited about starting a training program however they make the mistake of grabbing their favourite pair of comfortable trainers (alright in the garden or on the beach) and then wonder why they get foot, knee and leg pain 2 weeks into their program. Make sure you get a good pair of running shoes BEFORE you start your training program – unfortunately for your bank balance you do get what you pay for when it comes to running shoes.

Tip Three – Watch out for Hills:
Many new runners get injuries due to following a route that has too many hills in it (always difficult around Airedale and Keighley) – hill running is a great training tool but hills also cause incredible demands on the joints of the lower body and can accelerate injury risk in certain people. Try and stay on the flat for the first few months – maybe use the Canal tow path or Playing fields and then add some hills in as your fitness improves – it is better to be running on the flat than not running at all. Vary your route, perhaps run your normal routes in the opposite direction, variety is good.

Tip Four – Get a Check-Up
We mentioned a moment ago that one of the biggest predictors of injury is training volume – the other biggest predictor is past injury history. At Airedale Physiotherapy Clinic we find it amazing the number of people that had an injury at the end of their last training or sport season – and do not have any treatment of assessment on that area prior to starting next seasons training . The injury may have left some scar tissue, reduced range or muscle weakness that will greatly increase the injury risk when training resumes.

Contact us on 01535 611743 to have your injuries checked out.

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