I'm very injury-prone: Best long-term solutions for training

lift HEAVY. 1-2 times a week 5ish reps 3-5 sets DEADLIFT, SQUAT, BENCH, ROW, ONE ARM CLEAN

then go to the CHIROPRACTER

at least ONCE a WEEK

Don't listen to him.

epicTCK wrote:

lift HEAVY. 1-2 times a week 5ish reps 3-5 sets DEADLIFT, SQUAT, BENCH, ROW, ONE ARM CLEAN

then go to the CHIROPRACTER (I'm ruhtartedd and can't spell)

at least ONCE a WEEK

I already lift at medium weight, but I would think that lifting too heavy would make things worse. Also, I'm not sure a chiropractor would help with my feet.

For the long term, you need to get to where you can run consistently. I assume you've talked to lots of doctors. Has anyone suggested anything about your diet?

If it's just a matter of trying to contribute something rather than nothing to your track team for this season, I suppose crosstraining more and running less would help. Two hard workouts and a race in a week doesn't seem like a great idea, though - I'd do one hard workout and one easy run and a race. You can go hard on one of the crosstraining days. Also, if you have access to a pool, you might want to replace some of the biking with swimming to vary the stress on your muscles.

JamesD wrote:

For the long term, you need to get to where you can run consistently. I assume you've talked to lots of doctors. Has anyone suggested anything about your diet?

If it's just a matter of trying to contribute something rather than nothing to your track team for this season, I suppose crosstraining more and running less would help. Two hard workouts and a race in a week doesn't seem like a great idea, though - I'd do one hard workout and one easy run and a race. You can go hard on one of the crosstraining days. Also, if you have access to a pool, you might want to replace some of the biking with swimming to vary the stress on your muscles.

Thanks for the advice. You're right, I have talked to doctors. They really were only able to offer me short term solutions, but really the rest of it comes down to the fact that I'm just not very durable.

Also, the bit about two hard workouts and a race in a week is not for the meantime. That's just for the long term, perhaps from the summer onwards. For two weeks, I'm going to do only cross-training, and then slowly get back to workouts. I can do some workouts on the bike. I do not have access to a pool, but I can keep some of my other muscles engaged a bit with lifting.

No one has suggested anything about my diet. I feel like I have a good diet; I consume a good level of dairy, and I eat ton of vegetables. Mostly dark greens and other vibrantly colored vegetables.

It's a shame you can't use a pool, but the stationary bike will have to do. Maybe some elliptical? The weights will help you engage your other muscles but they won't put the same kind of stress on them as will the aerobic work. Maybe if your quads and glutes aren't as developed right now, the biking will help with that.

1) First identify why you are are getting injured

#Do you do a proper post run recovery? (e.g. stretch/ foam roll/ nutrition/ minimize immediate physical activity post run/ eat enough)

#Lots of athletes including elites think they do everything properly but 99% of the time they do not

#Do you do a proper pre-run? (e.g. Relax a small niggle in a muscle, proper warm-up, activation etc.)

#I have one of my athletes who had chronic achilles tendonitis, use a heating pad on both his achilles on max for 20min before every run. He has not had an issue in over 1 1/2 years.

#another one with hip issues I have him do as part of activation

1.plate squat with 45lbs (plate resting on head, going down through full range of motion)

2. Single leg deadlifts w/ 135lbs, transitioning to overhead push

3. 135lbs lateral duck walk, weight rested on front of shoulders

4. single leg step ups on box with knee drive and overhead push, 135lbs

#He does this before every run for the last 2yrs doubling 5 days a week, 12 runs a week total, no more issues, 6 repetitions of each exercise, 1 set, 5-8minutes to do.

#all my athletes alternate shoes trainers on easy days flats/spikes on hard, no same shoes on back to back days

#Do you ignore little niggles?

#Do you identify niggles? Can you distinguish between pain (e.g. soreness post quality session) and pain_pain (tendonitis/ strains/ sprains etc.)

#Can you identify your current weaknesses? (e.g. hip mobility: I have poor hip mobility: is this mobility poor dynamically or statically etc.)

#Are these injuries recurring in the same isolated areas? Or floating around from one spot to another?

#Run on soft surfaces? Or run to fast (not relaxed) on easy days?

#Are you aware of little things that you do during the day that could contribute to these injuries (e.g. hunching over in a desk, sitting in a desk with to small of a chain, overly exerting yourself in gym class etc.)

For now just do as little mileage as you can without getting injured when you can go 6+months without injury at that mileage then reassess. Even a 20 minute run on an easy day is enough, just to focus on consistency and focus on your specific sessions. Since it seems like you do not have an issue with multiple daily sessions make one a 20minute run and the other cross training.

When you can answer these basic questions then you can build from there.

#i.e. strength training/ physio/ etc.

Can I email you? I have some more specific questions on the same topic in regards to some of the training you mentioned

You can probably just ask the questions here. (questions could benefit everyone reading). I did not really mention any training other than an activation routine. Which only one of my athletes uses. It was specifically designed for him and his weakness caused by playing goalie in hockey and doing butterfly style saves for years as a child.

But if you think an email is more productive. Emereson_Emetko@protonmail.com

spelt that wrong : Emerson_Emetko@protonmail.com

BUMP

Thanks em_em!

#I definitely don't do a proper post run recovery except for the eating part. I have a balanced diet, and a very large quantity of it.

#I probably don't do a proper pre-run. My coach has his warmups mixed up - the warmup is too short on workout days and too long on easy days. I get a light jog + stretching before my runs, but that probably isnt enough for the workouts.

#I'm usually pretty good at identifying real pains, and I always reassess my training when there's a problem. I don't ignore the niggles, but usually they come up pretty fast.

#The hip mobility issue is because my left leg is longer than my right. I went to a sports medicine doctor and she said that I had surprisingly strong hips, so I don't think that is the issue. I do hip exercises all the time. In truth, I haven't had any hip pains for a long time, just the feeling of imbalance from the leg length discrepancy.

#The recurring injuries seem to be in the same place for most of the time, but every now and then a new area pops up.

#I run on hard surfaces exclusively. There are no soft surfaces near my school or home, and I don't have time to drive out to a park that does have soft surfaces, because then I wouldn't have time for my studies.

#I don't have gym class.

#I like the pound-sign bullet points.

My first question would be: Are you running on hard surfaces?

Sometimes a high impact sport like running can be hard on a developing body. When your body settles down and stops developing it might cope better with the sport.

Les wrote:

My first question would be: Are you running on hard surfaces?

Sometimes a high impact sport like running can be hard on a developing body. When your body settles down and stops developing it might cope better with the sport.

I'd really like that to be true, but I stopped growing a while ago. I would also love to run on soft surfaces, but there aren't any available near me.

Really, I'm wondering whether doing this cross training / running workouts mix will yield results in the long term.

Less cycling, more relaxed running. Not too hard (half marathon pace or slower), not too long (50'-60'). No more than 1 hard workout a week, no hard workouts when you race.

Cycling is a good cardio-vascular workout, but does nothing for your skeletal-muscular system. Also, weight training is not running specific.

Doing the easy runs hurts the most. I don’t think I’d be able to do that for a long time. Certainly over the summer for base training I won’t be doing hard workouts, but 50-60’ at half marathon pace is sure to kill me quickly. that’s tempo pace.

50/60 Minutes and HM pace are more of a maximum. You can start off slower and shorter, and slowly build up.

I really think the problem is that the only running you do, is either very fast or very long. If you can't run for 60 minutes without hurting, your body sure isn't ready for speedwork.