Running is in the air…my top tips for running faster and injury free

We’ve had a flurry of runners in over the last month or so. Not surprising with New Year and the competitive running calendar starting in the spring. This year we’ve had a mix of the already injured but also those getting into running who don’t want to get injured which has been less common in the past. It’s really refreshing as it seems to me that running is one of the only ‘sports’ that we take up and don’t get any coaching on. Aside from the assumption that every human can run I’m not quite sure why our approach to putting on a pair of running shoes is different to that of picking up a tennis racket, golf club or swimming costume.

That aside there are some top tips;

• DON’T stress about getting the best, anti-pronating, cushioned trainer go with the ‘comfort quotient’ and get what feels good on your feet.
• DO follow an evidence based running app like Couch to 5K if you’re a beginner. We regularly use it in the clinic as a rehab tool for running recovery.
• DON’T just run more. Running can be quite addictive and we get caught up in run further, faster, more especially if we’re seeing good gains.
• DO strength train. The forces our lower limbs are exposed to when running are really high so preparing your muscles for those forces is really strongly evidenced to not only help you run faster but also prevent injury.
• DON’T increase things to quickly or too much. Mileage, pace, terrain all place increased forces through our legs so sometimes not even big increases when we are already doing a lot can tip us past our ‘capacity’.
• DO seek help and guidance. If you are injured or not and want to know how you can increase your distance, pace or even just how to get started get in touch. We complete thorough examinations as well as our treadmill and software to analyse movement and running gait to get you going or put you back together!

And just because everyone loves a good pic and a picture paints a thousand words…a bit of tech allows us to look at strike patterns, joint position at particular points in the gait cycle which we put together with other testing so see what you’re up to.

One of our physios has a background in sports massage so it could be the perfect set up to get you race ready. We also have our Strength and Resilience class starting in March for those wary about strength training and would like some expert coaching. If you’re just not sure what you need you can always drop us an email to hello@plymphysio.co.uk or call us on 656340 and chat to one of the physios. You can book online here for a gait analysis package.

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