I was back in clinic today after a nice break and it probably won’t be too long before the January injury rush which I tend to see annually. People often turn to running as a quick, simple and cheap way to turn over a new leaf from a health and fitness perspective or maybe just to burn off some festive excess.
We know from the work of Drew & Finch and from all of Tim Gabbett’s research that if we deliver a load to the body that it isn’t prepared for then things often don’t go well. However, the literature also identifies some other risk factors for injury:
– No running experience [here]
– Previous musculoskeletal complaints not related to running [here]
– Previous running injury [here, and here]
– High body mass index [here, and here]
Danish researchers have purported that those with a BMI of over 30 should not run more than 3km in the first week of their training or their risk of injury greatly increases. And data from another group in Denmark suggests strength training (historically avoided by runners) can reduce overuse injuries by 50%.
Therefore, if we find ourselves in a fortunate position over the next several weeks where we are screening people before they commence their resolutions these are the things we need to probably be discussing. As the famous joke goes; What is the biggest risk factor for running injury? A: Running. The risk of injury is never zero, but with good load management principles (and if possible getting ‘fit to run’ before just starting running to get fit) we may be able to mitigate some of the risk.
Happy New Year!
