returning from injury and want to make a list of basics that are essential for staying healthy. Go.
returning from injury and want to make a list of basics that are essential for staying healthy. Go.
Well, also coming back from an injury, so I can't say this has kept me injury free. But it always helps me come back, and usually when I get injured I have let this slide.
Strength. Particularly singe leg strength. Calf raises and eccentric calf drops. Single leg deadlifts. Single leg hip bridges. Forward, reverse, side, and any other direction you can think of lunges.
Curious to hear what others say.
Cross-training instead of too much running.
Treadmill for around 50% of my miles so I am on a flat surface. I get injured (left ankle mostly) from uneven surfaces like cambered/crowned roads and sidewalks.
Finding the right shoes
1 shoes that are not worn out 2 taking a day of rest each week 3 weight lifting, plyometrics, stretching
Knowing when to back off. We all have niggles that show up through training. Figuring out which ones are serious and which ones we can run through is the toughest part. Better to be safe than sorry. Unless you're a sponsored athlete, there's really no good reason to push through most setbacks.
Sleep
such as....
One thing that has worked lately is warming up to warm up. Yes, it takes more time to do stretch and do drills but the actual warmup feels great.
brainstorm wrote:
returning from injury and want to make a list of basics that are essential for staying healthy. Go.
This is an interesting question but I wonder if it's doomed to be inconclusive. It's very hard to say why something (in this case, getting injured) didn't happen, just in logical terms.
If I look at myself, I was never/have never been injured. I don't run very much now, but in college I did 80 mpw, but I didn't do many of the things that people say you should do. I'm not trying to brag - I think a lot of it is dumb luck.
Now, if I absolutely had to venture a guess, I would say that my 'secret' was getting sick (colds/flu/stomach bug) a lot (like 3 or four times a semester), which forced a lot of consecutive 'zero days' throughout the year, even though my typical week was 80-ish miles on 10 runs. That couldn't have been the reason - could it?
The only way for me to stay injury free was to stop running altogether. Been 3 years if no injuries. I feel great and look great.
taking the day off when you wake up and absolutely dread running because you are tired , sore from week after week of hard training, and don't want to miss a run because it would screw up your mileage.
Bump
PRDreamer wrote:
Finding the right shoes
Second this. I used to just wear whatever good shoes that I bought at a discount. This works for a while, but when the wrong shoes get enough miles on them, they slowly break you down. When you hear stories of people getting 1000 miles out of a pair of shoes, it's possible because they were right for that person. Although rotating shoes helps, you are less likely to find that perfect shoe that still kicks ass for you after 500 miles. Adidas Adios 2 is that shoe for me.
No roads
Mountain ultras
Hokas
Stretch, as in serious stretching, ITB, down Dogs, archer stretch, Shiva squat, warriors, Pistol squats
Sleep, the occassional 11 hour sleep
Lots of good food
Stay away from biting dogs, no I don’t mean feminist women but thats good advice too
-Slowing my easy runs WAYYY down
-Becoming fat-adapted/anti-inflammtory diet
-Consistency
-Barefoot on turf for about 10-20% of miles
-Not racing or banging out intervals
Learn to listen to your body. It tells you a lot before things actually break.
Run by feel. Run fast, not hard
keepgoing wrote:
Strength. Particularly singe leg strength. Calf raises and eccentric calf drops. Single leg deadlifts. Single leg hip bridges. Forward, reverse, side, and any other direction you can think of lunges.
+1
Pilates, too.