Whether you are preparing for your first 5km fun run, first marathon or twentieth marathon, chances are you have heard a raft of different opinions. Whether it’s the best way to train, what your knee pain is, or my personal favourite “don’t run because you will wear your knees out”. An abundance of opinions in running is entirely understandable. At best navigating the world of running jargon takes time and patience. Even if words such as tempo runs, thresholds run, cruise intervals, fartleks, V02max intervals, pick up runs, Deek’s Quarters, long runs, slow runs, or marathon pace runs, enter your routine vernacular, determining when, where, and how much can be a challenge even for the most experienced of runners.
So what to do? Many may opt to follow a program, Melbourne Marathon for example each year produces training programs. The benefits of these programs are they are volume controlled, hence they have a real focus on ensuring increases in running are progressed slowly and therefore safely. These programs are however generic. As I have already eluded to in the far from exhaustive training list above, there is a momentous scope for variability and therefore individuality in a training program.
Why can’t I just go running – it’s pretty simple right? Well before I embark on what seem like a fear-mongering campaign let me first start by extoling just a few of the benefits of running; weight control, reduced risk of cardiovascular disease, prevention of aged related memory loss (potentially prevention of some dementias), prevention of diabetes and other metabolic diseases, prevention of some cancers, and management of depression and anxiety (1-3). So what’s the down side? You probable guessed it, injuries. Sports Medicine Australia report that as many as 70% of runners will get an overuse injury at some point in any 12 months of training (4). Any why is this? To a large extent, load management (4-5).
By far the most important variable of running, whether for performance or injury prevention, regardless of whether you are a professional athlete or a weekend warrior, is load. Monitoring and progressing not just how much running (volume), but also how intense and how variable (not repeating the same 5km neighbourhood circuit) is paramount (5). There are easy ways of managing this such as the 10% rule, there are more complicated ways for those that are number orientated (acute on chronic workload ratio (5)), and a host of ways that are in-between. Ultimately determining the right load for you is a real balancing act, it needs to be flexible to accommodate the rest of your life, but equally it needs to be sufficient to achieve your running goals.
So you want to start running or you are running but believe you can be doing it better – how can physio help? Our physiotherapists will perform both a running assessment with video analysis and a general physical assessment including strength and range of motion. Importantly, rather than acting on every single assessment finding (most of which are probably irrelevant), our physiotherapists will interpret all findings within the context of both you as a person and your clinical picture. Meaning? – We aren’t trying to turn everyone into a perfect picture of running.
We will collaborate with you to create an optimal training program. Not a physio’s goals for you, but your goals. The beauty of this is you can work towards injury prevention rather than injury treatment, which may be cheaper, quicker, and a lot less painful and disruptive. This may include home or gym exercises and running drills. Smart programming may also help you maximise the benefits of running for the time and resources you invest into it. This whole process is undergone in direct collaboration with yourself, a program that fits in with your time schedule, aspirations, and resources, your goals that match your expectations and motivations.
In the instance you already have a niggle or injury, well do not despair, our physiotherapists will almost never advise for you to cease running all together. We will do our best to modify your training and implement strategies to ensure you can maintain your fitness and recover as quickly as possible. Not convinced, well best of all, you can come down to Back in Motion Alphington, have a chat with a physiotherapist, receive a initial assessment and check out the clinic all at no cost to yourself.
References:
- Patel, A. V., Friedenreich, C. M., Moore, S. C., Hayes, S. C., Silver, J. K., Campbell, K. L., ... & Denlinger, C. (2019). American College of Sports Medicine Roundtable report on physical activity, sedentary behavior, and cancer prevention and control. Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, 51(11), 2391-2402
- Lavie, C. J., Lee, D. C., Sui, X., Arena, R., O'Keefe, J. H., Church, T. S., ... & Blair, S. N. (2015, November). Effects of running on chronic diseases and cardiovascular and all-cause mortality. In Mayo Clinic Proceedings (Vol. 90, No. 11, pp. 1541-1552). Elsevier Morres, I. D.,
- Hatzigeorgiadis, A., Stathi, A., Comoutos, N., Arpin‐Cribbie, C., Krommidas, C., & Theodorakis, Y. (2019). Aerobic exercise for adult patients with major depressive disorder in mental health services: A systematic review and meta‐analysis. Depression and anxiety, 36(1), 39-53.
- Linton, L., & Valentin, S. (2018). Running with injury: A study of UK novice and recreational runners and factors associated with running related injury. Journal of science and medicine in sport, 21(12), 1221-1225
- Gabbett, T. J. (2016). The training—injury prevention paradox: should athletes be training smarter and harder?. Br J Sports Med, 50(5), 273-280