How to Prevent Running Injuries

This is an article I wrote for the Fleet Feet Johns Creek newsletter.






















The Truth About Running Injuries

With the explosion in the popularity of marathons and triathlons in the last 10 years, it’s no wonder that we are seeing more and more running related injuries at our facility. While the reasons for injury are very specific to the individual, there are a few statistics that we simply cannot ignore. First, 80% of runners will suffer some type of overuse injury in any given year. Second, and more importantly, the biggest predictor of injury is a prior injury.

Wow, you say? So basically, I will get tweaked at some point and that will in turn increase my chances of getting injured again? Doesn’t sound like a very encouraging outcome, eh?

Well, fear not my faithful pavement pounder. You can prevent this cycle of injury with a simple strategy. We need to make sure that you are fully recovered from injury before you return to your running program. This can be confusing as we have commonly used pain or passive range of motion as a gauge for function. Consider this hypothetical scenario presented by Gray Cook: identical twins suffer the same ankle sprain at roughly the same time (remember, it’s hypothetical). After completing the prescribed therapy protocol, each twin then displays full function as it is measured in the clinic. There is no presence of pain and range of motion is normal in both twins. Why then does one of the twins limp out of the clinic while the other does not? While we have established full function in regards to therapy protocols, we have overlooked one very important factor- the brain. The twin that continues to limp has simply developed a motor pattern that tells him that he needs to limp.
Without retraining that pattern he is at greater of injury than his sibling.

The above scenario is easy to imagine with a distance runner. How many of you have suffered a minor injury and then attempted to “run through it”. I thought so! Our bodies are ultimate compensators and, even though you may not be aware of it, you are creating a problem in the kinetic chain. Let’s say you are suffering from plantar fasciitis. Any change in your running gait is going to result in an increased stress on other joints in the chain (i.e. knee, hip or lower back). We don’t function as separate collection of moving body parts. In that case, we need to make sure that we not only treat the localized pain and establish normal ROM, but we need to establish true function before returning to activity.

The only way to know if you are truly functional is to have some type of measure for movement. At NPPT, we use the Functional Movement Screen. The FMS, as it commonly known, is a simple, yet effective tool that measures movement quality. Unlike quantitative measurements (running splits, race times) the FMS lets us measure quality. This allows us to not only establish whether or not one is moving normally, but it also gives a predictor of potential problem patterns that could result in injury.

Regardless of the method or tool, be certain to establish full function and proper movement patterns before returning from injury. It is unrealistic to think that we all won’t suffer a minor injury at some point. The key is to address the injury and reestablish normal movement so that we don’t continue the injury cycle.

RM