Are you Fit Enough to Run?

This may seem a strange question, as most people will see running as a means to getting fit. However, here at ‘JM Sports Injury Clinic’ we are constantly inundated with frustrated runners suffering with acute or chronic injuries ranging from back, hip, knee, calf or foot pain. Most will battle on for a few weeks or even months before they are forced to stop running and seek treatment. Our running rehab clinic sees a large increase in injuries as people are building up to a running event. In fact, we pretty much know an event is on the horizon by the increase in appointments.

Studies have shown ’50-60% of runners will sustain an injury that will require a change in the way they run or physiotherapy, most of these are preventable as they are due to poor running biomechanics’ (source Mike Antoniades, founder of The Running School). The risk of injury increases as volume and intensity increases. (Vleck & Garbutt, 1998)

The issue is that running is a high impact, repetitive activity which places a lot of stress on both the skeletal and muscular systems. But we all take for granted that we can and should be able to run. However, we may need to re-think this approach of ‘just going out and running’ when you consider:

1. An average runner will take anything between 150-180 strides per minute, equaling 9000 strides per hour. If they run 4 times per week this equals 36,000 steps per week and a total of 144,000 steps per month!

2. When we run we are putting 2-5 times our body weight through our foot, knee and hip. Novice runners are usually at the high end of the loading as they tend to have a slower cadence, spend longer on the ground and hit the ground harder as a result of poor technique, a lack of strength and fitness (source Mike Antoniades, founder of The Running School, 2014).

3. A 75kg runner, could be generating forces between 150kg and 375kg with every step (144,000)- that is a lot of stress for the lower limbs to handle.  That is a lot of stress for the lower limbs to handle!

Then if we consider that most of us have never:

1. Learnt the skill of running- ‘we just run’
2. Worked on activation of key running muscles
3. Introduced a run specific strength programme
4. Utilised run specific warm-ups and cool downs

Then it is no surprise that so many of us are getting injured running. If this sounds familiar, why don’t you join our next Running Technique Workshop (details adjacent or below)?