Preventing Injury; Here’s how

Approximately 40-50% of runners will sustain an injury each year with an average layoff from running of 5-13 weeks.

We are at our most susceptible to injury when we are increasing our running load, for example to peak for a particular race, returning after a layoff, or when upping our mileage to tackle a new distance.

One of the best ways to avoid this happening is through a programme of regular strength training which not only helps to increase resilience to potential injuries, it also increases running economy and performance.

Chris Stankiewicz, Director of the Injury Clinic in Market Harborough and contributor to books on marathon running, offers us a simple strength and conditioning programme with 8 exercises that can be done at home and progressed naturally as you get stronger.

These exercises target the hips, knees, and ankles where weakness can result in an injury in those joints or surrounding areas. Taking approximately 20 minutes to complete them the recommendation is to incorporate these into your training twice a week if you can. Remember, they don’t all have to be done at once, you can “spread them out” during your day or week if that suits you better.

You may already have your own strength and conditioning programme in which case it is worth checking if it covers the exercises listed and thinking about incorporating them into it if it doesn’t.

The first document takes you through each exercise in a step-by-step guide with advice on numbers of “repetitions” and “sets”. Always start with what is comfortable for you and progress from there. Seek advice though if you are currently injured. The second document gives you more information about the role of strength and conditioning in a runners training programme and how it can help you.

Strength Programme for Runners
Injury Prevention For Running