Welcome to Your Healthy Lifestyle. This is a complimentary monthly e-zine that focuses on injury prevention and general health tips. We hope you find it both informative and helpful. You will find even more helpful resources on the Nose Creek website.
Enjoy and we look forward to your feedback!
From all the staff at Nose Creek Sport Physical Therapy |
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Return to Running by Rob Holmes
For many of us, when the weather finally warms up, we start running again. Others may have continued throughout the winter, but are now increasing their running schedule or switching from treadmills to outdoors. These running changes are great, but can potentially lead to injuries. A few simple tips can reduce the incidence of injury.
Starting a Running Program
When starting a running program make sure that you can walk comfortably at a brisk pace for at least 30-40 minutes. Walking is great exercise. It is close to running in the way that our muscles work and can prepare you for running without injury. Also important is to make sure you start slowly. This is accomplished in two ways. First the slow start. I give this advice to all runners from beginners to elite athletes. Start every run with a 5-10 minute walk to prepare your muscles and circulatory system. Then have another 5-15 minutes of your run at a very slow jog before starting into a regular running pace. This slow start is even more important than stretching in preventing injuries. Secondly, make sure you do not progress your running too fast. A good guideline is no more than 5 minute increases every one to two weeks.
For more seasoned runners that are switching from a treadmill to outdoors, it is important to remember that the biomechanics of running on a treadmill are different to running outdoors. When running outdoors, approximately 15-30 percent of our stride is used up by absorbing impact and briefly slowing ourselves down prior to our next stride. This is significantly lessened on a treadmill as the ground is moving under us. Therefore decrease your running time by at least 15-30 percent when moving from a treadmill to outdoors. For example, if you are usually running 30 minutes per day on a treadmill start out your first 2 weeks outdoors at 20 minutes or continue at 30 minutes but reduce your pace.
Most importantly enjoy yourself. Running is a great way to get in shape, spend valuable time outdoors and get some stress relief.
Have fun! |
