How to Prevent Overuse Injuries in Runners

16 Jun How to Prevent Overuse Injuries in Runners

Running’s high impact means it causes extra stress on the joints of the legs and the spine. When athletes perform a high impact sport over and over again injuries are likely to occur. That’s why 70% of runners will experience an injury this year.

Most of these injuries will be overuse injuries. Overuse injuries happen when the muscles and bones are overworked and are not given appropriate time to rebuild. People most at risk for running overuse injuries are people that overtrain, start back running too soon and too fast, or don’t have balance between strength and flexibility. Thankfully, these types of injuries are completely preventable.

Working out at a level of activity that your body can handle is the best thing you can do to prevent overuse injuries. A runner that is too aggressive with their running program will injure themselves. If you’re a beginner, you’ll want to ease into running. It’s also important to remember that you don’t have to run fast. You can run at a comfortable pace and still get all the benefits of running. Also, make sure you don’t progress too fast. As a rule, you shouldn’t increase the amount you run more than 10% each week.

When scheduling out your running program make sure you’re scheduling recovery time. Recovery time is important because your body needs time to rebuild the tissue that has been stretched or worked out aggressively. So make sure to give yourself a break every now and then, and make sure you’re getting enough sleep every night.

Pain is an indicator that something is wrong. If you are in pain,listen to your body. If your calendar says you have to run 10 miles today, but you are in excessive pain, you don’t have to run that 10 miles nor do you have to make up for it and run 20 miles on your next run. Just skip it that day and move on. If you ignore your pain and run anyway, you’ll be setting yourself up for a major injury. Skipping one day to prevent an injury is much better than skipping 3 months to heal one.

If you sustain an overuse injury, try to catch it early. While soreness is normal, pain that persists for 2-3 days is not.  Injures such as muscle tears and stress fractures need medical attention, so if you experience severe pain you need to talk to a doctor. However, most overuse injuries can be treated at home with rest, ice, anti-inflammatories, and strength exercises developed by a healthcare professional.

Having a well planned running program is very important in preventing overuse injuries. If you’re just starting out or are having trouble developing a program for yourself, give us a call at 662-282-4949. We can develop a program that fits you.