The checklist of things to NEVER get injured

I would like to add stretching after runs but don't stretch too much to the point where you lose the tension in the muscles and tendons that give you that "snap" in your step when running.

the two most important strategies for injury prevention are, in my opinion:

1. look forward to the training you want to be doing 4 - 6 months from now, and spend some of your training preparing to do that.

2. the small things you get advised to do to recover from injuries, the heel drops, lunges, stretches, all the stuff you do in rehabilitation, that stuff helps you not get injured in the first place. so start doing them, now.

cheers.

Never get your brain injured or you might not ever run again

cross training is great for mixing things up and working different muscles. i personally prefer to swim a few times a week

dritius wrote:

I would like to add stretching after runs but don't stretch too much to the point where you lose the tension in the muscles and tendons that give you that "snap" in your step when running.

I have had no injuries of any sort since four years ago I completely abandoned stretching. I warm up running slow for 20—30 minutes.

back woods wrote:

dritius wrote:

I would like to add stretching after runs but don't stretch too much to the point where you lose the tension in the muscles and tendons that give you that "snap" in your step when running.

I have had no injuries of any sort since four years ago I completely abandoned stretching. I warm up running slow for 20—30 minutes.

+1

Another one, warm up thoroughly

back woods wrote:

dritius wrote:

I would like to add stretching after runs but don't stretch too much to the point where you lose the tension in the muscles and tendons that give you that "snap" in your step when running.

I have had no injuries of any sort since four years ago I completely abandoned stretching. I warm up running slow for 20—30 minutes.

Yep. Stretching is correlated with more injuries. I've been running for 30+ years without injury and have never stretched or foam-rolled or done mobility exercises or done a core exercise.

Don’t get old.

This is easy wrote:

Don’t get old.

All you teenies and twenties turds out there posting here: This is easy has it right. At 44, my body is shutting down and I do pretty much everything right. Calf, meniscus, weight, etc. all due to OLD AGE. It sucks, man.

Eat a diet rich in protein, vegetables and omega 3 fatty acids. Stay low on the sugar

I used to do a lot of static stretching.

Try the dynamic warm-up. 5-8 minutes and it gets your heart rate up.

I'm lazy though; I'll just run my first mile slow on EZ runs or long runs (pace doesn't matter). For intervals I'll jog for 10 mins. to get warmed up.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v73-flygfyI&t=1s

dritius wrote:

back woods wrote:

I have had no injuries of any sort since four years ago I completely abandoned stretching. I warm up running slow for 20—30 minutes.

+1

Another one, warm up thoroughly

+2. Almost every injury I've had has happened in a run where I went out hard without sufficiently warming up.

And I'll add another one: Slow down and/or stop if something feels "wrong." (There's some minor pain, and then there's wrong; once you've experienced it you know what I mean.) I think a lot of people get injured because they refuse to acknowledge and deal with that little feeling, which then blossoms into a full-on 3 month injury.

And yet another one: Good genetics. I believe that the majority of people will get injured from time to time, no matter what, if they push themselves at all. I'd love to be proven wrong there though.

Yepper Depper wrote:

This is easy wrote:

Don’t get old.

All you teenies and twenties turds out there posting here: This is easy has it right. At 44, my body is shutting down and I do pretty much everything right. Calf, meniscus, weight, etc. all due to OLD AGE. It sucks, man.

44 is "old"?! Crap. Glad no one told me that 15 years ago.

It’s important to remember that an injury is not a character flaw. Some injuries are unavoidable, and every injury can provide valuable lessons. Don’t spend every game just playing defence, have a good balance.

Regardless of how cautious you are, everyone who pursues athletic excellence will get injured from time to time. You have to train on the edge sometimes. It’s where you will find growth.

The ability to limit the severity and patiently rehabilitate the affected areas is critical to long term success.

Yes, it is wise to be proactive in preventing injury, but never let fear of injury get in the way of your athletic development. A career spent trying to avoid injuries is no running career at all.

All of these things are good but you can't leave out genetics in the equation.

You see these people who say stretching is bad.

Some people can get away without stretching, others need to stretch.

Two people can take the exact same approach and one will get injured and one will not.

So add - know your own body and don't always follow the crowd.

dritius wrote:

- Never ramp up mileage too quickly (10% rule if it's a large jump)

- Don't push easy days

- SLEEP!!! (As Nick Symmonds put it, never wake up to an alarm clock)

- Don't race the workouts, handle the goal paces based on your current level of fitness

- Strength training a few times a week is crucial for runners to maintain good form and allow your body to get stronger to handle harder training

I agree! I've had more injuries when I wasn't following those rules. I still need to work on sleep, but I've been injury-free for a while after fixing the other things, so I'm happy.

As some people have said, mobility drills may help. They 100% did for me! Hip mobility drills made injuries disappear, especially my shin splints and Achilles/calf problems. Jay Johnson's Myrtle drills, and now his updated Strength and Mobility (SAM) workouts have been exceptionally good for me. I don't do ALL of them, but I've picked the ones that helped me the most, and I've been happier for it. I've heard a lot that if you fix the hips, you fix a lot of problems down the chain.

The ones that helped me the most: clams, lateral leg raise, donkey kicks, fire hydrant, knee circles (forward and backward), leg swings (lateral and linear). Takes less than 5 minutes!

Note: I'm not a paid sponsor for this guy or anything. Just found the stuff helpful, and he's the one I first heard about the drills from.

Star wrote:

Two people can take the exact same approach and one will get injured and one will not.

So add - know your own body and don't always follow the crowd.

It is nearly impossible to never get injured. It's what happens when you push the envelope.

Agree with the quote above. Everyone is different so there is no perfect formula. Learn from past mistakes.

Also, this quote from an another post above... "never let fear of injury get in the way of your athletic development. A career spent trying to avoid injuries is no running career at all." is critical. "

I coach an athlete who has little chance of ever reaching her potential again because she is now afraid. The fear is understandable yet it will prevent her from returning to her former form.

Remember there's a big difference between being tough and being stupid.

Tough is coming up huge for your team in a XC meet when you don't feel well or are not in your best shape, but grind it out and show heart.

Being stupid, is training/racing through serious injury. I came back too early from a strained calf and blew it. I sprained my ankle bad and put numbing cream on it so I could run our conference meet, was messed up until that later summer.

do some kind of speed work every week