Running: How to avoid injury?

Getting injured because of running is probably every runner’s biggest fear!

Make sure that you follow the advises below to stay injury free while running. 🙂

1- Don’t increase your running distance too fast.

when you start running, your fitness level will increase very fast and it is very tempting to increase your running distance too fast. As a general rule you should increase your distance by 10% each week.

You should also let your body time to adapt by having a recovery week every month during your training where you will run less distance than usual. By doing this your muscles while have time to rest and recover which is essential for training adaptation.

2- Weight / body weight training

Weight or body weight training helps prevent injury by strengthening muscles and connective tissues. Strong muscles will help stabilise your joints and absorb shocks each time your feet hit the ground.

Increasing your muscle mass is not going to make you run slower, it will actually help you run faster as your stamina will increase and your muscles will be more resistant.

3- Stretching

Stretching everyday is not a realistic goal for everyone, start with 20 min twice a week and stick to it, you can do it while watching TV for example. Once this become an habit, you can do it more frequently.

Focus on your lower body and your hips in particular as runners tends to have very tight hips. If you don’t where to start you can attend a yoga class to learn how to stretch your muscles properly. Yin yoga is great to start with as it is a slow paced yoga that focus on holding the stretches longer.

4- Choose the right shoes

It’s essential to have good running shoes, if you can, go to a shop specialised in running with various brand and a treadmill where you can test the shoes, and don’t hesitate to ask for advise.

Make sure that you size up as our feet tend to swollen while running. You should change your running shoes every 600-700km (depending on your weight).

5- Don’t wait until it’s too late

If you start feeling pain while running, stop immediatly and don’t hesitate to see your doctor or a specialist.

When you feel pain, it’s your body sending you a message so don’t ignore it as it won’t fix the problem. It will make it worst and will increase your recovery time.