Sports/Injury Rehab > Understanding Running Related Injuries

Understanding Running Related Injuries

Running-related injuries – let’s break it down

Running has been shown to provide numerous health benefits and research has continued to encourage running as a safe and effective form of exercise. With the recent coronavirus pandemic, more people are be looking to running as their primary form of exercise. Despite the numerous physiological and psychological benefits of running, there are some associated lower limb injury risks. The fact is that over 50% of runners experience a running-related injury each year, this might lead you to wonder if the risk is worth the reward. In this blog, I hope to guide people on how to get the best out of running while reducing your risk of injury.

Running Related Injury

Running related injuries are most commonly attributed to the following:

Anatomical factors – This refers to our physical appearance prior to running. Factors such as body composition, height and resting posture may have an effect on load distribution during running. There is little evidence that these factors are responsible for running-related injuries and I believe injuries are often incorrectly attributed to anatomical factors. The theory is that the physical appearance of the body usually develops over a long period of time. That means the body has time to adapt to the changes in load. Unless there has been a sudden change in your physical appearance this is not something to be too concerned about.

Biomechanical factors – This refers to the way we move, particularly our running form or gait. Assessing running form and biomechanics is a complex task and often it is difficult to change. There are some minor changes that have been agreed upon to elicit positive change, such as increasing a runners cadence (more steps per minute). This can improve running efficiency, which is generally associated with reducing running-related injuries.

Training error – This refers to errors in the training regime, which may include the type of training, the intensity, the frequency and the duration of training. In my experience, the majority of injuries can be traced back to a training error. Here are some tips on what to record and how to progress your training effectively while reducing your injury risk:

1. Track how you feel

One of the easiest methods to track your training is using a training diary. This will contain basic information such as distance, time, pace and perceived level of exertion (PE). The latter is particularly important in gauging how much a particular run has stressed the body. The PE score is usually out of 20, indicating how hard or tough the training session felt to the runner. The runner keeps track of their running and reviews the diary on a weekly or monthly basis. This can help the runner identify when they might be overtraining or progressing the training too fast. Other indications of overtraining include increased muscle soreness after training, persistent fatigue (tiredness), poor sleep and general irritability.

2. Take at least one rest day a week

Resting is when the body recovers from the stress of exercise. This is when tissues rebuild and the body adapts to make us fitter and stronger. It is essential to take resting seriously and try to minimise any additional stress to the body (this includes everyday stressors such as physical work). When starting out as a runner I would recommend having a rest day in between every training day.

3. Make sure the training is progressive

It is well known that improvements in fitness will only occur if we push our bodies further or faster over time. This should be done very gradually and over a sufficient period of time to allow the body to adapt. Rapid progression can lead to overuse or excessive tissue stress. The key is to progress slowly, a recommended guideline may be to increase by 5-10% every second week.

If running is something you or a family member would like to take up, try using a progressive training program and keeping a training diary to monitor your progress. I hope this will assist you in getting the best results and help you stay injury-free. If you are suffering from a running-related injury come in for a physio assessment and treatment and let City Physio get you back up and running.

Happy Running.

References:

Napier, C. and Lewis, A., n.d. Science Of Running. New York: DK Publishing.
Bramah, C., Preece, S., Gill, N. and Herrington, L., 2019. A 10% Increase in Step-Rate Improves Running Kinematics and Clinical Outcomes in Runners With Patellofemoral Pain at 4 Weeks and 3 Months. The American Journal of Sports Medicine, 47(14), pp.3406-3413.

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