MY 3 ESSENTIAL PRINCIPLES OF INJURY PREVENTION
By Dr Spencer Brown
Follow these tried and tested injury prevention principles and you’ll spend less time on a rehab table – and more time doing the activities you love and enjoy.
‘Follow these tried and tested principles and you’ll spend less time on a rehab table.’
Kate Kyme, specialist musculoskeletal physiotherapist
One would assume the might of medical science would have conveniently listed several bulletproof ways to prevent running injuries – well sadly, they’re not even close! After reading many research papers over the last 15 years or so, I’m still surprised to see very few answers. However, after many years of clinical experience I’m able to list my top 3 essential injury prevention principles and if you incorporate them into your training regimen I’m confident you’ll be more likely to enjoy a long and healthy running life.
Principle #1 – Prepare (warm-up) Properly
Admit it…you don’t warm up before a run, right? In your defense, you’re probably not sure what to do or you haven’t been shown how. Look no further, we have a generic warm-up protocol and some fantastic running-specific mobility drills to get you started. Drop me a message via our Contacts form and I’ll happily send them over to you.
Take your warm-up to the next level by investing in some specialist coaching either from a physiotherapist, strength & conditioning coach, personal trainer or sports medicine doctor – they will be able to advise you on corrective exercises and mobility drills specific to your body. Preparing thoroughly for any exercise ensures you’ll move well – good movement will significantly reduce your chances of a running injury.
‘Running-specific muscle activation & mobility drills reduce injuries & increase performance.’
Dr Spencer Brown
Principle #2 – Limit Training Errors (over-training)
Anyone can get injured, it’s really easy…… just run too much! Everyone has a limit and injuries can be avoided by knowing where this limit is. Doing too much too soon and too fast is often the culprit because there’s a tendency to follow generic mileage accumulation programmes. That said, a simple rule of thumb that’s been around for a while is to limit mileage increases to 10% each week – so if you’re currently a 10-mile/week person, limit the next week to 11 miles, the week after to 12 and so on. Remember this is a general rule so play around with the percentage (a 5% or 15% rule may be more appropriate) but be sure to listen to your body.
Principle #3 – Do Strength Training (correctly!)
It’s well established that strength training is great for increasing performance and protecting us from injury. Squats, lunges, deadlifts and single-leg stability exercises offer great training transfer into running performance. However, if done with poor technique it can have the opposite effect. Unfortunately, I’ve witnessed too many avid runners totally ruin themselves in the gym because they simply don’t know what they’re doing. If you’re not sure ask a strength & conditioning coach, personal trainer or a specialist sports physiotherapist with knowledge of strength training.
‘Correct technique improves athletic performance.’
Dr Spencer Brown
Look for blog posts to follow ranging in topics from general fitness, strength training and CrossFit to knee problems,
reasons why people are in pain and why I don't recommend over-stretching the hip flexors.
Be sure to follow Island Rehab Hub on Facebook and LinkedIn to stay up to date with our services,
community activities and for when new blogs are released.
Get in touch to book your first appointment.