Photography by Bev Childress of Fort Worth, Texas

Running involves more than just the legs and in fact, doing it regularly can lead to many injuries. These injuries may happen because of biomechanical irregularities, specifically, imbalanced hips, weak or tight muscles, or inactive glutes. Incorporating exercises to prevent injury is necessary for all runners.

When running, muscles in the hips, the glutes, and the core are used. When these areas are weak, then the runner’s form is also off. Some runners tend to favor one side of the body more than the other, while some use other muscles in order to make up for weak muscles. Both of these ways will lead to injuries due to overuse. Thus, doing exercises that strengthen weak muscles and stabilize any imbalance will lead to less injury.

Beyond that, those who incorporate injury prevention exercises in their routines perform better, running faster than those who do not exercise. This is because, according to experts with physiotherapy and exercises, the form is improved and they are running more effectively, meaning farther and faster.

Best Injury Prevention Exercises For Runners

These exercises can be done 2-3 times weekly to get the most out of them but to simply reduce injury risk, once a week is also enough. These exercises also do not require a gym membership, as you will simply use your body weight.

However, others looking to build their strength can add weights or resistance bands after they master these exercises.

1. Reverse Lunge

This exercise will make your core, glutes, quads, and calves stronger. As opposed to a squat, lunges will work your legs separately, so that it will also work on your stability.

First, you need to stand with the feet hip-wide apart. Take a step back with the right foot and go down into a lunge while keeping the left knee bent at a 90-degree angle and above the left ankle. It is important to also engage the core and keep the back flat with an upright posture. Take a step back to complete the rep, and then repeat with the left leg. Do 2-3 sets of 10-12 reps with each leg. To make the exercise harder, you can hold a dumbbell in each hand.

2. Single Leg Deadlift

This is one of the most valuable exercises runners can do. The hinging motion in this exercise will make the back, hips, glutes, and hamstrings stronger. Doing this single leg exercise will improve stability and remove any imbalance in the glutes and hips.

Stand with the feet hip-wide apart. Raise the left leg out backward and shift the weight to the right leg. Hinge at your hips in order to bend forward while stretching the leg behind you, until your body almost looks like a T. Make sure your back is flat and the abs are engaged. Pause and then go back to the starting position. Complete all the reps on one leg before switching legs. Aim for 2-3 sets or 10-12 reps each leg. For more complexity, hold a medicine ball or a kettlebell.

3. Bird Dog

This exercise improves balance while strengthening the core, back, and glutes. Go down on all fours, keeping in mind that your back should always be flat and the core should be engaged. Extend your right arm and the left leg straight out until they are parallel to the floor. Pause, then go back. Repeat with the left arm and right leg for one rep. Do 2-3 sets of 12-15 reps.

4. Side Plank

This variation of the plank will engage the glutes, core, hips, and back. Make sure you engage the abs by pulling in the navel towards the spine.

Lie on the right side then raise yourself up on the right forearm, keeping the elbow directly below the shoulder. Raise your hips up until only the feet and forearm are on the ground. Make sure your body is in a straight line from head to toe. Hold the position for 30 to 45 seconds and do 2-3 repetitions.

5. Clamshells

This exercise works out your adductor muscles, glutes, and hips.

Lie on one side with bent knees and the elbows, knees, hips, and feet stacked. You may prop the head in your hand or let it rest on your arm. Raise your knee up by rotating it and making sure to keep the feet together. Pause, then lower the knee back down to complete the rep. Do 2-3 sets of 12-15 reps each side, finishing one side before switching.

Ensure Your Running Vitality

Running can be a taxing exercise for the body, which is why it is vital to ensure the body is conditioned enough for it. Doing these exercises will keep the important muscles strong and stable so that you will be able to run faster than before and at the same time, avoid any common running-related injury.

The post Prevent Running Injuries with the Right Conditioning appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

But you shouldn’t feel hopeless because there is a way to prevent this from happening, and that is through exercise.

As you age, you’ll experience changes in your body from slow movement to slow memory retrieval. One of those changes will also include the deterioration of your muscles. You can experience muscle pain and muscle weakness because the mitochondria¹ in your muscle cells become weaker.

But you shouldn’t feel hopeless because there is a way to prevent this from happening, and that is through exercise.

Exercise has been known to help your muscles regardless of your age. For older people, exercise increases the endurance of their muscles making them less susceptible to strain and injury. Here are the two best types of exercises that could help your muscles and bones maintain their strength even at the age of 60.

Strength Training

Like its name, strength training aims to strengthen your muscles, bones, joints, and ligaments through the use of weights. These weights can come from a machine, weights, or even your own body weight. The way training goes is, you start off with light weights and it slowly becomes heavier as you do more reps.

Strength training can be done by teenagers as well as senior citizens because the workout’s intensity can be controlled. There are also a lot of benefits linked to this type of exercise:

• Muscle strength. When your muscles are strong, you can easily do more things. This is most beneficial for older people because their muscles deteriorate over time. With strength training, their muscles will get used to particular movements making them resistant to pain.
• Better body coordination. Because your muscles will be in tune with another, it’s not going to be difficult to move around. At the same time, even if you are in a static position, your muscles will not ache easily because balance and posture will be improved by strength training.
• Keeps your body fit. When you get old, your metabolism also decreases, making it a lot easier for you to gain and store weight without losing them as fast. With strength training, it improves how your body burns calories. It’s also a good way to stay fit.

Interval Training

Like strength training, interval training takes its name from the intervals you take. It alternates high-intensity workouts with low- to moderate-intensity workouts during rest periods. This means that a total rest period in between doesn’t happen because you will be doing low-intensity workouts instead.

For example, you would be running for three minutes straight. After three minutes, you will cool down by jogging at a steady pace for the same amount of time. Once that’s done, you go back to running and then jogging, and so on.

As a senior citizen, you are probably wondering if your body can handle this. Well, there is always the right intensity for you even if it’s going to be tiring. At the same time, interval training is known to benefit older people in several ways:

• Reverses the signs of aging. Research has recently shown that interval training reverses the effects of old age on a cellular level. This means that as you grow old, your body won’t have to deteriorate as fast as it normally would.
• More calories burned in less time. Without going through an hour of intense exercises, interval training burns more calories than simply doing weights and cardio. Because you won’t be having any cool-down during the exercise, your body learns to recover at a faster rate.
• Strengthens muscles. Needless to say, your muscles become stronger over time. Because interval training improves how the mitochondria give power to muscle cells, your muscles will gain more strength and endurance.

Overall, these two types of exercises can help senior citizens with their muscle problems. If you still have hesitations regarding your body’s ability to do these exercises then look me up at my physiotherapy practice in Melbourne, Australia.

Reference:

1. Sun N, Youle RJ, Finkel T. The Mitochondrial Basis of Aging. Molecular cell. 2016;61(5):654-666.

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