Running Safe to Running Smart
The benefits to running are quite obvious and are the focus of many a health topic or forum, magazine article, or just plain general consensus of most fit and active people, so I’ll skip past that point and assume you are either already an active participant or are acquiring information on how to get involved. Therefore, I’d like to focus on an important matter that goes hand in hand with the enjoyment and pleasure of the good lifestyle choice of running: how to avoid injuries. Why? If it hurts to run, you aren’t really going to enjoy it.
When starting out, progress at a pace that is comfortable to you. Remember that fitness levels and training intensity vary according to different individuals, so try to find something closest to your capabilities and lifestyle. Remember, no one ever set out to win a marathon on their first day of running.
You should always allow yourself time to recover as well! Just like any form of strength or endurance training, your body needs time to repair and rebuild between sessions. Rest and recovery is even more important after your initial foray into it. Many people enter running all gung ho and excited only to cause themselves pain, discomfort, and/or an overuse injury and stop or drop out completely. Starting out, it will be best to adopt a one day running, one day rest approach to allow your body to build up to your personal training goals.
Also, try to foster a fitness tripod to ensure a complete healthy lifestyle. Keep in mind that running is simply one leg of the tripod when it comes to being healthy. Don’t forget a stretching regimen to go with your exercise, including both a warm up and a cool down. Finally, try to include another form of physical activity to go with the days you’re not running. Be active to be fit!
After a day sitting on the couch, it will probably not be the most entertaining notion to go running the next day, especially when you’re starting out and are feeling a little sore from your previous endeavor. Fortunately, your efforts don’t have to be anything particularly ambitious; anything that gets you out of the house and keeps you moving will do fine. Window shopping for 20 minutes at a leisurely pace, any kind of drop in sport like bowling or mini-golf is fine, and this goes all the way up to a relaxing night of yoga.
While maintaining a healthy lifestyle, always buy good quality running shoes. With all the new orthopedic shoes and shoe liners on the market, it should be a sin to end up with repetitive stress foot injuries due to running. We may not all need the new Pumpmaster 6000, top of the line running shoe, but once you have made it past the ‘honeymoon period’ with running and begin to settle into it as a lifestyle choice, you might as well invest in a quality shoe designed to protect your feet. A nicely designed sport shoe was created to prevent injuries, and any good quality, sturdy running shoe will do.
Always listen to your body! By running within your capabilities, you will not only enjoy running more, but you’ll also receive more from it. It is best to run smoothly and easily until you are reasonably fatigued than to stop. To accomplish this, it is usually easiest to run by time and not by distance.
To minimize jarring, never run on an uneven surface, and try to run in as relaxed and comfortable a manner as possible. The strain on various joints, your legs, and even your lower back is tremendous when applied incorrectly by both the terrain you choose and how smoothly and relaxed your body is while running. If you feel unnecessary tension or uncomfortable pain in any part of your body, slow to a more comfortable pace.
Do not try to run through an injury if you experience pain while running. It’s best to choose an alternative to keep you going while your body recovers. Swimming and cycling use different muscles and different joints and are definitely a good way to keep yourself active and fit while you do recuperate from any form of running discomfort.
There are many different forms of basic exercises, and stretching is important. Feel free to try whatever applies best to your exercise routine, but generally speaking 5 simple stretches are the key to both maintaining a healthy lifestyle and preventing sports-related injuries:
1. Quadriceps Stretch. Standing straight while balanced near a stationary object, reach back and grab the top of the foot or ankle. Then stretch the hamstring of each leg while trying to avoid bending forward.
2. Hamstring Stretch. Lying flat on your back, grab each leg by the back of the thigh one at a time and straighten to 90 degrees in the air. Then slowly straighten your knee.
3. Piriformis Stretch. Lying on your back, cross your legs as if you were seated. Then grab under your leg with both hands and pull it to your chest until you feel the stretch in your hips and butt.
4. Gastroc Stretch. This is the common runner stretch where you see a runner push against a wall while their back leg is at a 90 degree angle. If done correctly, you will feel a slow pull in the calf of your back leg. As with all stretching holding, a long constant slow stretch is more effective than bouncy quick stretches.
5. Soleus Stretch. This stretch is similar to Gastroc. The Soleus stretch starts with your back straight and hands pressed to the wall in front you. One leg will lead, but in contrast to the Gastroc, the back leg won’t be positioned at a 90 degree angle. The butt should be lowered to an almost sitting position with your legs bent. Push forward until you feel a comfortable pull in your lower calf muscle.
No matter what your fitness level is, you can build up a running lifestyle by taking it slow and working your way up. For example, you might run on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays and start with 15 minutes of running on the first day, 20 on the second, and 20 on the third. By the fifth week you may find yourself running 20 minutes two times and week and 25 on the another day.
Of course, you can swap out these days to fit your schedule as long as they provide the day-on day-off ratio. You can also tailor your plan to match any fitness level by choosing to walk, jog, or run (depending on which one you prefer). You can do these activities as many time as you see fit, and depending on their intensity they can used as either warm-ups or cool downs.
Having a healthy lifestyle is all about conditioning and routine, so if you need a period of walking before jogging, and jogging before running, always remember it’s just a matter of building yourself up safely and effectively over time. If you’ve been inactive for a long time, you may start out walking and then gradually mix in jogging until you’re comfortable pushing yourself. You’ll probably come across many running programs and trends, but when it comes to designing a routine bear in mind more often than not “less is more” when it comes to progress.
Dr. Kenneth Cooper (the father of aerobics) believes that running 3 miles a day 3 times a week will give most men and women adequate aerobic fitness. For some of you this may not seem like enough, but for others it may be a distant goal. Regardless, preventing repetitive injury is critical to maintaining any routine.
In conclusion, if you start out the right way there’s no reason why this sport can’t be enjoyed for many years to come! It can both add to your quantity AND quality of life thanks to the numerous health benefits of aerobic exercise.
André Nöel Potvin is the President of INFOFIT Educators School for Fitness Professionals ( http://www.infofit.ca ). He is also an International Speaker, Author of the Great Exercise Handbook series (which has sold over 1 million copies worldwide) and a former Exercise Physiology Instructor at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada. If you’d like more information about this topic, please email her at nicole@infofit.ca
