Injury Prevention Tips

Common mistakes when running

Podiatrist Justin Chong explains some of the top common mistakes runners make:

Too much, too soon 

It’s a notorious problem for runners: pushing yourself just a little too far before your muscles are strong enough.

“What runners often perceive as easy can in fact be too much – especially in first time runners.” Justin Chong, Podiatrist

A lack of stretching and strengthening

It’s important to make sure your muscles are conditioned to handle the repetitive strain of running – and that means stretching and strengthening. Implementing a routine to improve the biomechanics of your body will do wonders for your performance when running.

“Some runners do not supplement their early training with effective stretching and strengthening to make their tissues more resilient.”

Waiting too long for treatment

Justin points out that sometimes runners seek treatment too late and neglect their injuries in the hope that the pain will go away. By the time they see a medical professional, their running injuries can become even more problematic.

1. Increase your distance and speed safely

The first step is controlling the intensity of your workout – training too hard is detrimental to your progress. A slower increase that doesn’t put unnecessary strain on your body is much more useful.

First time runners often don’t build enough of an aerobic engine, and established runners can fall into the trap of training with too much intensity.

Moving forward: The key is to start slow. Building capacity in the tissue to manage a gradual increase in loads is a safe way to ensure your body doesn’t suffer and run into injury. A good coach will help you train so you’re making progress at a safe rate.

Here’s what Justin recommends for runners looking to increase distance or speed:

• Incorporate an effective stretching and strengthening program into your training.
• Start slow and ease into your training moderately.
• Ensure your shoes give you the level of support and cushioning you need.
• Mix your surfaces up to give the body a rest and make it more resilient.
• Change shoes that are worn out.

2. Be aware of your surface

Harder surfaces require the muscles and joints to disperse a higher impact – meaning that constant impact on harder surfaces could create gradual weakness in the tissue and lead to running injuries.

“The key is being able to build capacity in the tissue to handle the impact as loads increase. Softer surfaces reduce the impact but require the body to push harder to propel it forward” Justin Chong, Podiatrist

Moving forward: If you’re opting to run on a harder surface, make sure you’re supplementing your running with strengthening to ensure your body can bear the impact. Running on a mixture of harder and softer surfaces like roads and gravel paths, is ideal to help the body adapt after injury and alter the loads in training.

3. Make sure you’ve always got supportive footwear

Chris Bishop, Podiatrist and Biomechanist, recommends looking out for these signs of wear in your footwear:

• Grip
• Feel
• Stability

It’s important that irrespective of the surface you run on, there is sufficient grip and traction to avoid slippage.

“When the grip of the shoe’s outsole wears down, the shoe starts to feel hard under foot, or they don’t feel as stable as they used to,” Chris points out. “This signals the time for a replacement.”

“All materials succumb to wear and tear and a shoe that no longer provides you the level of stability you need is not going to be sufficient protection when you run. Midsoles are made from resilient foams, yet they do wear out. And when worn out, they aren’t as comfortable and protective, which could result in pain and discomfort.”