Why some runners get injured - and how to stop it happening

Article written by BRS member Peter Francis :barefoot:

ShoesOff.jpg

"Put simply, runners get injured when they change anything too quickly". Photo: Getty Images

Why some runners get injured - and how to stop it happening
By Peter Francis, Institute of Technology Carlow


Analysis: changes in running distance, speed, surface, footwear, environment and stress levels can all cause a running injury

Humans can travel further, faster than any other mammal on the planet. We have distinct physical features which facilitate this, namely our ability to sweat. Our ability to cool through sweating means we can keep going for hours at a time during which time most zebras, lions and cheetahs would have died from heat exhaustion.


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Why some runners get injured - and how to stop it happening
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Analysis: changes in running distance, speed, surface, footwear, ... We were born to walk and run long distances, in fact, it has been central to our evolution ... Dr Peter Francis on the benefits of barefoot running for injury prevention.
 
My experience as an aging runner suggests to me that there is another type of training which should be included here with regard to injury prevention for runners: Stability and balance training specific to the ankle, knee, and hip. While the article does suggest other types of training, I do think that, even with yoga and Pilates, they don't pay enough attention to ankle and balance issues. Runners are moving forward: Exercise must encompass some side-to-side motion and one-foot balance, for example picking up objects while standing on one foot, especially as we age. Although barefoot running does exercise the ankle more than shod running (and can even overexert the ankle without the stabilizing of a shoe), I find that I need to work on ankle and balance training (for example, squats and one-foot exercises on a BOSU half-ball) in order to keep my ankle tendinitis at-bay. Dance and martial arts have more of this built-in.
 
My experience as an aging runner suggests to me that there is another type of training which should be included here with regard to injury prevention for runners: Stability and balance training specific to the ankle, knee, and hip. While the article does suggest other types of training, I do think that, even with yoga and Pilates, they don't pay enough attention to ankle and balance issues. Runners are moving forward: Exercise must encompass some side-to-side motion and one-foot balance, for example picking up objects while standing on one foot, especially as we age. Although barefoot running does exercise the ankle more than shod running (and can even overexert the ankle without the stabilizing of a shoe), I find that I need to work on ankle and balance training (for example, squats and one-foot exercises on a BOSU half-ball) in order to keep my ankle tendinitis at-bay. Dance and martial arts have more of this built-in.
Excellent insight, IraR! Thanks.