Running can be a great thing to do especially during summer. Specially with the longer evenings and warmer nights, but not when you get injured and can’t run anymore. If you are thinking of taking up running or are a regular runner but have suffered with injuries in the past there are some tips below to help prevent them.
Warm up and cool down.
It is important to properly warm the muscles u before starting exercise to prevent any muscular injuries.
Think of muscles like blu tac. If you try pull blu tac when it’s cold, it snaps in two. But if you work it in your hands and warm it up then try pull it, it nicely stretches and doesn’t snap.
A warmup combined with light jogging to build the heart rate up and begin to warm the muscles up. Including=use some dynamic stretches as well aiming for he muscles that are going to be worked in the session. Then you can progress on to drills, these can include things such as high knees, cross overs Etc to further prepare the body for more strenuous exercise and help prevent injuries.
Cool downs help to clear the muscles of waste products that can build up during the session. It can be done by a light jog that is slower than the session to gradually lower the heart rate back down. Then followed by some stretches to help prevent muscle tightness.
Stability and strengthening work.
Stability and strengthening work can be key to helping prevent injuries for runners. Working on joint stability like the Nile joint can help prevent ankle sprains. This can be done by performing ankle eversion and eversion exercises with a power band. Also balance exercises such as standing on one leg or to challah further standing on one leg on a pillow.
By increasing strength of muscles can help with running form and prevent muscles becoming over worked and causing tendinopathies or muscle strains to occur.
Listening to your body
It is important to listen to your body when training as it can be trying to tell you things. Rest is just as important as training and even the top-level athletes have rest days and periods of rest if they become injured. If you have an injury or a niggle it is usually the body trying to tell you something and by seeing a physio, they can help create a treatment/ exercise plan to help rehab the issue and help prevent it occurring again.
Sort massage can be a useful tool to help I juries also. It can be used to relieve muscle tightness and tension that can build up and cause irregular running patterns – causing unnatural strain of muscles – and general muscular aches from training.
This list is not extensive and for more information you can speak to your physio if you are wanting more information regarding injury prevention in running or If you are planning on starting running for fun or a specific event. Please peak to your Dr before staring new exercise if you have any medical conditions.
This page contains the current position that Mobility Physiotherapy Limited is taking based on the latest government and our professional body guidance to ensure the health and safety of our patients.
