3 Tips to Prevent Overuse Running Injuries
What is your greatest fear when you start running? While you might say that your greatest fear is not achieving your personal best, or hitting a plateau. But your greatest fear should be getting a running injury. Running injuries can stop you from performing at your best. Frequent injuries can lead to formation of scar tissue, eventually you may experience problems running. Statistics show that two thirds of runners would suffer from a serious running injury that can result in time off training.
Find a Repetitive Balance
When your feet hits the ground, your feet absorb the impact. The muscles and tendons stretch and contract to better position the legs so that you keep your balance when you run. While you cannot avoid the trauma, you can definitely manage it. There is a balance between maximum performance and tipping over to suffering from and injury. Once you find that balance, you can push the boundaries and go into a new level.
Be Mindful when you Train
One of the most common overuse injuries is training error. If your feet are not striking the ground correctly, other parts of the foot may absorb the impact, causing serious wear and tear. We land on the ball of our feet when we walk or run, hence that location contains fat and stronger bones to absorb the bulk of the force when you run. It is easy to address errors, just pop into our clinic for a biomechanical gait analysis. Not only you can see if you are doing it right, we can also suggest the shoes that are best to help support you when you run.
Switching it Up
Running can be a dull activity, especially when you are always on the same location, even if you love the road you take everyday. If you are used to running on flat surfaces, why not try running on slope, or around the field? Frequently running on hard surfaces can be bad for your feet, soft places like grass or running track provide a different experience. You can allow your body to adapt to new surroundings by going slower, changing the speed and also help prevent overuse running injuries. It is just a small change of habit, but it can help tremendously in your overall routine.
A few small changes can add up to a positive effect on your running routine, why not give it a go? If you already suffer from overuse running injuries, we can help you get back on track via our dry needling or shockwave therapy. Give us a call, we will be here when you need us.
