Injury Prevention
The best indicator of assessing
your injury risk is simply
the amount of time you spend training. Simple. The more
you train the higher the risk of sustaining an injury.
Tired muscles simply do not
protect the associated connective
tissue well - this increases the risk of damage to tendons,
ligaments, cartilage and bone.
One recent study showed a very
strong increase in injury risk
when in excess of 60 kilometres a week was run.
The two best predictors of injury
If you have been injured before you are much more likely to get hurt
than an athlete who has been injury free.
If you have ankles that are put under heavy stress, because of your
specific biomechanics during exercises, your ankles are likely to hurt
when you run for a prolonged time. After recovery you re-establish
your running load without modification to your biomechanics - your
ankles are likely to be injured again.
Scientific studies also suggest that reducing the number of consecutive
days of running lowers the risk of injury. Recovery time reduces injury
rates by giving muscles and connective tissues an opportunity to restore
and repair themselves between runs.
I'll start off this section with
little hints for an injury free run:
1. Weak muscles
Weak muscles are simply not ready to handle the
amount of work that
you give them. This is why people who start running for the first time
often do well for a few weeks but then, as they increase the length of
the runs, suddenly develop injury problems (the most common ones are
hamstring, knee, foot and back problems).
The body simply isn't strong
enough to cope with the increased demands
you are making of it. Take it nice and slow and your muscles will
thank
you for it!
Don't get discouraged if you
suffer an injury just when you seemed to be
doing so well. Rest up and take it easy. It's important to recover
and get
back to top shape.
