Injury
Prevention: Strength/Power Training, Cross Training, Warm Up/Cool Down
Injury rates among runners are extremely high; most
injuries occur in the lower limbs and are a result of “overuse” or constant
repetition of the same movement. Distance running breaks down muscle mass and
can result in loss of strength; this will increase your risk of injury and
decrease your performance. Strength training not only decreases risk of injury
for endurance runners, but also has positive effects on running performance
through improvements in running economy and neuromuscular adaptations.
Strength/Power
Training
While most strength-training programs will be beneficial,
runners should look to tailor their program to match their marathon goals and
the different phases of running training to get the most out of it. I often
hear patients and clients tell me that they just don’t have time for strength
training with the amount of running that they have to do. Strength training and
running training should complement each other rather than compete for
attention. Many runners assume they need to run six to seven days per week to
get as many miles in as possible. It is possible, however, to run four days per
week and complete a marathon successfully.
The old school of thought was that runners should work
on endurance training (low weight/high repetition) to prepare themselves for
running 26.2. This may be beneficial early in the training cycle or for someone
who doesn’t have a lot of resistance training/running experience, however, a
combination of carefully timed strength training and power training (including
plyometric exercise and Olympic lifts) will also be beneficial for running
economy. As mentioned above, running occurs in one plane of motion; with a lot
of repetition, this can result in injury. Strength programs should also be
multi-planar and should encourage full body exercises through full functional ranges
of motion to prevent injury.
Cross
Training
In addition to resistance/power training, runners should
consider other forms of cross-training. Again, this is important because
running occurs in one plane and is very repetitive. Performing motions in
multiple planes will help improve your range of motion and strength in a more
functional way and will help reduce risk of injury. A lot of runners will turn
to biking as a form of cross training. While a number of studies have
demonstrated that high power bike intervals can improve running speed, cycling
also occurs in one plane (the same plane as running, but in a different
position), so I often encourage patients and clients to find another form of
cross-training in addition to cycling if they do end up with an injury or have
had a history of running-related injuries. Swimming (sidestroke, breaststroke,
butterfly) is a great alternative because it incorporates multiple planes of
motion.
Warm Up/Cool Down
A proper dynamic warm up is an important start because
it increases your core temperature and blood flow (therefore oxygen delivery) and
stimulates nerve conduction for muscular contraction. Walking lunches, power
skips, high knees, carioca, and other body weight movements in addition to some very light cardio will prepare the body for your
workout so that you are not wasting the first one to two miles of your run to
allow your body to warm up. Foam rolling can performed
both pre- and post-workout for benefits and traditional static stretching
should be reserved for the end of a workout.
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