How to Prevent Running Injuries – Part 1

What we see in clinic all the time, is people coming in with running or training injuries that have blindsided them, they have no idea how it happened.  Its like the injury came out of nowhere.

Injuries don’t come out of nowhere.  Most running injuries produce signals

  • aches
  • soreness
  • persistent pain

Its up to you not to ignore the signal and to take appropriate action.  That doesn’t mean keep on running as you set yourself a goal and want to achieve it.  I consider it crazy to run through pain – all you are doing in injuring yourself further.  If you do push on regardless you will invariably end up with with more enforced rest needing more rehab than if you took immediate action.  Any problems are just amplified the more miles you run.

One of they key factors that determines an athletes success is there ability to avoid injuries.  If you look at Kenyan distance runners they are experts at listening to their bodies and knowing when to skip training if they are tired and how to nip injuries in the bud.

So if you get any of the above signals book a sports massage.

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    Similar massage stokes Yes Yes
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