How to avoid running injuries

September 17, 2024

Injuries are the bane of every sportsperson’s life, and wherever we can, we want to do our best to avoid them!

We chat to Tamara Singer, a Specialist Musculoskeletal Physiotherapist at Pure Sports Medicine, who shares with us her top five tips for avoiding those common running injuries.

Wear appropriate footwear: Make sure you have a good pair of trainers that suit your foot type. Typically high arched feet need a cushioned neutral shoe to help shock absorption while the pronated foot type (flat feet) needs a stability shoe which has a denser material underneath the arch to slow down the rate of pronation.

Conditioning: To ensure your running and stability muscles are strong enough choose five or six exercises to do three times per week. Exercises such as calf raises, glute bridging, squats, lunges and plank holds can all be done at home and will work the muscles that are important for injury prevention when running.

Build up slowly: It’s important for your body to get used to the repetitive nature of running and for your muscles to adapt to the requirements needed. Start gradually with a walk/run such as two minutes running, one minute walking times ten, then reduce the recovery time by ten seconds every run until you are running for a solid 20 minute block.

Make sure you have a day off in between runs as well to ensure enough recovery in between sessions.

Preparation and recovery: Do dynamic stretches prior to running to warm the muscles up and static stretches after running or on your days off. Important muscles to stretch include both long and short calves, hamstrings, hip flexors and glutes.

All stretches must be held for a minimum of 30 seconds and done two to three times over to be effective.

Listen to your body: If you start to notice any aches of pains seek advice from a sports physiotherapist early as often these things can be resolved much quicker if they are addressed immediately. It may be a case of wrong footwear, poor running style or a weak or tight muscle which if corrected under the right advice can make a big difference to your running.

Sportsister,
The Women’s Sports Magazine

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How to avoid running injuries

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