Happy Friday!
If you don’t have time or the resources to go to a gym, then running is a great alternative. It is free, requires minimal equipment, and you can pretty much do it anywhere (except in the rain, can you say twisted ankles?) But the challenge is that just like any other physical activity, prerequisites need to be met in order for a person to maximize the benefits from running. If you run 1-3x per week this article is for you.
As a physical therapist and strength coach, I have identified some common issues that often affect a runners health, primarily injury prevention. Over the next couple of days, I will be discussing the most important action steps to enable pain free and effective running. Whether you are a recreational runner or like to compete in races, you won’t want to miss this.
The first prerequisite is to get stronger. This is the most overlooked yet effective factor for successful and pain free running. The body takes on various different types of stress during exercise, but two common stresses which include intensity (amount of weight/impact) and volume (number of repetitions/cycles). While running can be considered low impact, it is a high volume activity, where you are taking tens of thousands of steps with speed. Consider strength training as your foundation. If a solid foundation isn’t in place, light yet very frequent stress can actually cause damage.
This is not a message for you to start powerlifting like crazy, but you absolutely can if you want to. This is more for you to understand that before you go and do 1000+ reps of something, you should be able to have a baseline level of strength, so you can handle all of those repetitions. Especially if you are coming back from an injury. You can start off with the most effective lower body exercises which include squats (with or without weight) and deadlifting (picking things up and putting them back down).
If you started working on your strength to help improve your running, stay pain free, and get you closer to your goals, that’s awesome! But if you are looking for help because you keep getting hurt or can’t seem to make any more progress towards your goals, book a no sweat intro with us today.
If you want to wait until the fall to start your strength training for running, reply “fall” to this message to hear more about our “couch to fitness program”.
Talk soon,
Ashley
*The owner will not be liable for any errors or omissions in the information provided nor will the owner be liable for any accidents, injuries or other damage, howsoever occurring to any person or property arising out of or in any way connected to the use or application of information obtained from this message.
