Injuries are every runner’s fear. With the right exercises you can do a lot to prevent injuries yourself.
It only takes one injury to put a stop to your training. Worst case, you will be forced to quit some of the goals, you’ve been training for.
Studies show, that you have a higher risk of injuries when you are training towards a competition. The good news are, that you can do much to prevent injuries yourself.
We’ve teamed up with InjuryMap to create an easy accessable online tool with great strengthening exercises for preventing running injuries.
CPH Half participants get 3 months of free access to InjuryMap
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How Injury Map works
Injury Map is an online training tool that suggests exercises as a supplement to your running. It contains lots of effective exercises that strengthen your muscles, ligaments and tendons to reduce the risk of injuries.
It even gives you a personalized training plan that fits your current situation and physical weaknesses.
3 tips for preventing injuries
1. Do strengthening exercises
The purpose of preventative exercise is to ensure that your body can handle the joint stresses and muscle strains that typically occur during running, so that you are strong and flexible enough to adopt a good running technique – one that will lessen the likelihood of wear and tear and/or accidents. Injurymap’s injury prevention program is designed to guide you through the training process, allowing you to gradually build up strength and mobilize your joints and muscles in an optimal way.
Ideally, athletes should aim to complete three Injurymap training sessions per week. To help you achieve this goal, it is a good idea to combine your Injurymap training sessions with your existing training routine. So, for example, you could try using Injurymap every time you finish a training run as a way of cooling down properly.
2. Progress your training conservatively
Be careful not to increase the intensity of your training regime by more than 10% from week to week, both in terms of running distance and tempo. Staying within this limit will prevent you from ‘overdoing it’, which will, in turn, reduce the likelihood of sustaining any running related injuries.
3: Perfect your Technique
Perfecting your running technique is really important if you want to avoid injury. Focus on keeping your body upright and straighten your back when you run.
In addition, be sure to maintain a high cadence (your steps per minute ratio). Ideally, you should take between 170-180 steps per minute when you run. Low cadence running means that you take fewer steps to cover the same distance. This results in your feet spending more time in the air which, in turn, puts a greater load on your joints and muscles every time you take a step. Conversely, high cadence running minimizes the amount of time your feet are in the air, thus resulting in a lower risk of exertion when you run.
