10 Tips to Prevent and Treat Running Injuries

Running is a life enhancing activity that can certainly help tone and get you in good shape. That said, as with most of life’s pleasures there is a potential downside to the sport. Running injuries are difficult to avoid and can prove more than a nuisance. In some cases, they can spell the end of a pleasant pursuit not to mention the end of the track.
Research indicates that between 35 and 70 percent of runners will fall victim to injury at some stage in their running career. At the end of this article, we take a closer look at ways to monitor running injuries such as nagging aches and pains. First, here are some preventative tips aimed at minimizing injury risk:

10 Ways to Avoid Having to Treat Running Injuries

1. Starting with the feet, watch the mileage factor with your favorite shoes. New shoes every 500 miles or so is the word, depending on your weight and gait.

2. It makes good sense to have more than one pair of running shoes. This also extends the shoes’ life. Alternate your runs between the two pairs; this will help stretch your budget.

3. Make running shoes just that, and avoid wearing your latest ones to work. Regular wear quickly breaks down any shoe, but it is good to use them for comfort once they pass their running sell by date.

4. Go for a gait analysis to confirm that your preferred shoe is right for your stride and running rate. Top stores and running coaches offer running gait analysis as a service.

5. Both pre, and post-run stretching is very important in avoiding injury. This can include dynamic stretching such as jogging, brisk walking, butt kicks, side shuffles, lunges, and even knee-up stretching. Anything that helps avoid the need to treat running injuries.

6. Proper hydration helps prevent muscle cramps. If you start feeling dehydrated, you will likely suffer depleted electrolytes. Potassium – an electrolyte – is required for your muscles to relax after contraction.

7. Try to avoid over-striding and don’t stretch your feet too far. Work on your feet landing centered underneath your torso. This allows your body (ankles, knees, and hips) to work more as shock absorbers.

8. Increasing your pace should happen naturally by leaning forward from the ankles, and not the hips. A subtle forward lean will increase your pace, without broadening your stride.

9. Using full-body as well as muscular endurance circuit training all helps build muscles. Essentially, running really is about using 50/50 lower/upper body.

10. Are you suffering nagging aches and pains? You are not giving your body the means to recover. Resting is essential, as well as giving your muscles and joints some much needed relief. Whole Body Cryotherapy and localized cryotherapy will reboot your running systems. The cold is a natural analgesic and the improved blood flow helps eliminate toxins so you recover faster.

Perhaps you need to monitor your run routines on a spreadsheet in order to identify the cause/s and then treat running injuries – read on!

Managing the Way You Treat Running Injuries

Create a separate spreadsheet column to monitor telltale trends after your run:

• Pains and aches encountered (neck, limbs, hips, back, feet, etc.)
• Post a general rating column for the run (fantastic to terrible)
• The type of run you took, for example trail or road
• Record pre and post-run stretch routines
• Describe the weather conditions
• The running shoes used
• Time of day

After your run, tick each column as applicable to record the conditions/symptoms experienced for that specific run. Soon, you will start seeing trends and can begin sorting columns according to each running session. Now you can pinpoint and treat running injuries or hopefully even avoid them completely.

Done with your run? Come recover at San Diego Cryotherapy