Running Injuries
Back again with more running shoe talk….
Lately, (partly due to my own experiences) I have been doing a lot of research on running, running form, running shoes and running training as it relates to injuries and decreasing risk of running related injuries.
This new found interest as you might have guessed has stemmed from my own personal history of running related injuries and my current attempt to get back to regular pain free training.
Running related injuries can come from a variety of sources; external factors (surfaces, shoes, weather ect) as well as internal (previous history of injuries, lower leg strength ect). Nearly all runners deal with injuries at some point and we can all agree that injuries are no fun at all!
Running we know is a very repetitive sport, we are placing stress on our bones and joints repeatedly step over step. This repetition is thought to be one of the contributing factors to running related injuries.
What Does The Research Say?
So research has looked into ways to “disrupt” this repetition.
One proven way is having multiple pairs of running shoes that you rotate through, now this is particularly important for those who are running 3 or more times per week. We want to change up the foot/ shoe dynamics to give some slight variations with each run. The goal is in the long run this will help to decrease the repetitiveness of running. Studies have also supported this with one study showing up to a 39% decrease in running related injuries over a 22 week period for those who rotated running shoes compared to those who did not.
Some major caveats need to be mentioned here, it is important that we are staying close to a similar heel toe drop which is explained in this earlier blog HERE as well we need to be keeping in check our overall running volume and maintaining our strength training all of which help support a strong runner.
So here I am not only making myself feel less guilty about buying more shoes but it should help decrease injuries in the long run!
Below Physiotherapist Will Howatt is participating in a trail race in Fredericton, for all things trail running in Fredericton click HERE. 