Running injury is common among runners. Some are related to the sport whereas some are related to external circumstances…
Today we are providing you with some safety tips that will help you to avoid the most common running injuries.
So, let’s begin…
Table of Contents
10 Safety Tips For Runners To Avoid Getting Injured…
While running is fun, getting injured is not fun…it will make you not only deal with the pain, but also you may have to take a break from running for some days or weeks.
However, with a bit of care, we can actually avoid such injuries to a great extent, and here is how to do it…
1. Severe muscle cramps
Muscle cramps are very common among runners. That severe pain that suddenly shoots through your body can be one of the most dreadful experiences.
The immediate effect of this is that you have to stop. No matter how good of a runner you are, you will have to stop.
And these cramps can come up from nowhere. For example, you are running, suddenly your calf muscles start to get stiff, and then within seconds you are withering in pain.
Or you may have that dreaded side stitch which is oh…so common…
And I’m pretty sure you know how exactly it feels…
But why does this keep on happening?
Well, one of the main reasons for that is you are having lesser fluid intake…
This is also very common among runners who are in tropical countries where the weather is generally hot and humid like India where I’m from.
The humidity of the weather sometimes reaches almost 99% and the heat…sometimes 45 degrees Fahrenheit.
In such weather, you will sweat profusely and will lose a lot of water from your body in form of sweat. Not only water but with sweat, you tend to lose sodium and potassium from your body.
These electrolytes if not replaced on time, can lead to severe muscle cramps…
So, what to do?
Mix some electrolyte powder with water and drink it before your run. Alternatively, you can also mix sugar and salt with water which also acts as a form of electrolyte.
Recipe:
- 1 cup of water.
- 1/4 teaspoonful of salt.
- 1/2 tablespoonful of sugar.
- 1 wedge of lime. (optional).
Mix all the last three ingredients with the water and drink it before heading out for your run.
2. Not warming up
This is one of the biggest mistakes that many runners make, be it a pro or an amateur.
Not warming up before your run potentially opens you up for severe injuries like muscle cramps, hamstring pull, etc.
However, in severe cases, you may have to take a break from running for a couple of weeks to months to recover from the injury.
You will get behind with your training and you will not be able to reach your running goals on time.
Instead, if you focus on doing that warm-up routine before your running, then you will be able to potentially avoid these kinds of problems.
When doing warm-ups, it is best to first focus on your mobility after which you should do some light cardio to get your heart rate going.
Here is a simple mobility routine that you can follow before your running to improve your body’s overall range of motion:
3. Running on heels
For many runners, running on their heels comes easy. Also, the way running shoes are constructed nowadays also encourages heel strikes.
However, running on heels is like putting a hard break on your car while moving at considerable speed.
It puts a lot of impact on your joints starting from the ankle joint to the knee and the hip joint.
Over time, it can cause a lot of damage to these joints and can cause you to go through a lot of pain and discomfort in your day-to-day life.
It is encouraged to run on your midfoot or forefoot which will help you to avoid these kinds of injuries.
Some of the other benefits of running forefoot are that your speed will increase almost immediately and your hamstrings will not get pulled.
4. Only focusing on running
Running is a form of cardio exercise. It helps you to burn a lot of calories in a short amount of time…however, it does very less to strengthen your whole body.
If you are overweight and try to only run, you may experience a lot of pain in your joints. Also, as you start losing weight, you will end up with loose skin (not fun, I tell you…)
A way to avoid this is to do strength training. The amount of fat that you will lose will be replaced with muscles. This helps your body to maintain its tone and structure.
Also, if you strength train, your body will be more apt in dealing will injuries. Even if you fall down, it will be strong enough to protect you from some of the impacts.
This is not the same, with only cardio training…
Also, the development of muscles will be faster with strength training and you will be able to achieve the body you want in a shorter period of time.
5. Avoiding carbs at all cost
Carbs have a bad rep these days…however, they are one of the primary food groups in our nutrition regime.
If you are a runner, this is one thing that you must include in your meals. This will help you to build up the glycogen store in your body, which will be used up when you go for those strenuous running sessions.
Otherwise, as you run, over time your muscles will get weaker which will lead to injuries like:
- Muscle pull
- Sprain
- Body pain
- Muscle or tendon tear, etc…
But why will this happen?
Without carbs, your body doesn’t have enough fuel to go on with…so it will turn to the resources that are present in your body…namely protein and fat…
It will start to break them down and convert them to energy…this is why your muscles will get weaker and you may have to deal with the above issues.
6. Running with loud music
The tips that we have provided above are directly related to running itself. However, you may be doing everything right with running but may still end up getting injured.
Here are some of the reasons, that may lead to an injury indirectly…
Running alone may become boring sometimes…
As a way to not be bored, many of us take refuge in music…When using music, it is good to have it at a level, where you are able to hear what is going on in the surroundings.
However, if the music is too loud, you may not be able to hear the honking of the vehicles or any other warning signs that may help you avoid injuries…
For example, if the music is too loud and you are turning through a corner, you may not hear the warning honk that a car made…and you may end up crashing into the car…
My point is, please keep the loudness of the music to that extent which will help you to be aware of the surroundings and will help to stop yourself from meeting with accidents.
7. Running with a worn shoe…
This is a common reason for many runners. We don’t keep track of the number of miles that our shoes have already worked out for.
After around 300-500 miles, the cushioning of the shoe is not good…
It gets compressed and may develop uneven areas…
This puts a lot of strain on your Achilles and the plantar fascia band…which leads to inflammation of these areas…
And the pain…you will feel it with every step and you will actually need to implement a lot of things to recover from this injury.
However, if you keep a track of the mileage of the shoe, you may be able to avoid such problems.
8. Running through logged water
This is a common scenario in my area…When it pours, there is a lot of water logging, and many times you may have to cross water that is knee-deep…
Let’s say you are running on a day when it is pouring or maybe after the rains and you encounter a road where the water is logged…
Rather than changing course, you throw caution to the wind and brave through the water log…
Problem is, that you did not see the huge pothole that is hiding under the water, waiting for you to step on it…
As a result, you end up with a twisted ankle and a long break from running.
This is a milder scenario…what if, instead of the pothole, it was a manhole that is missing its lid…
It could even turn into a fatal accident…
When you encounter water logging and is not able to see the road under water, it is best to not brave through those water and change the course.
9. Not being observant of the traffic
If you are a runner who is running inside the city, be careful of the traffic that is coming your way…
This is especially true when you are running through the signals…
Most of the time, drivers are careful…however, you should not put your life at risk or trust someone else with it.
What if the oncoming car’s driver is not mindful?
Be observant of them and cross the junctions when the signals are in your favor…
This is especially true for the runners in India…
In the morning when the traffic is less, many of us have the habit to overlook the signals and the traffic…
We run as if we are in a park and are not cautious enough about the traffic…this is very dangerous and many accidents happen this way…
10. Trusting your luck too much
Many of the unpleasant situations that arise during running can be attributed to predictability.
If someone tails you, or something similar, it may be because you use the same route, at the same time, and every day…
This gives a chance to the attacker to learn about your habits…
Once they are sure about your habit they may devise a plan and some of those bad situations arise…
It is not that you may not get into such situations if you are unpredictable, but the chances reduce drastically…
Also, if possible, try to use a time when people are around…instead of late nights or very early mornings…
Conclusion
The above list of tips is by no means exhaustive…however, but they will provide you with a pretty decent list of tips that are applicable to most of us.
There may be other ways to avoid running injuries…I would encourage you to list them below in the comment section.
References
Nigg, Benno M., Darren Stefanyshyn, Gerald Cole, Pro Stergiou, and Janice Miller. “The effect of material characteristics of shoe soles on muscle activation and energy aspects during running.” Journal of biomechanics 36, no. 4 (2003): 569-575.
Fields, K. B. (2011). Running injuries-changing trends and demographics. Current sports medicine reports, 10(5), 299-303.
Zhou, H. and Ugbolue, U.C., 2019. Is there a relationship between strike pattern and injury during running: a review. Physical Activity and Health, 3(1).
Zifchock, R.A., Davis, I., Higginson, J., McCaw, S. and Royer, T., 2008. Side-to-side differences in overuse running injury susceptibility: a retrospective study. Human movement science, 27(6), pp.888-902.
Fields KB, Sykes JC, Walker KM, Jackson JC. Prevention of running injuries. Current sports medicine reports. 2010 May 1;9(3):176-82.
Madhusree Basu
Author, Admin
Blogger and a fitness enthusiast. She loves running and Yoga and everything in between. She started running to manage her weight and to eat to her heart’s content. A true foodie at heart she shares whatever knowledge she has gained throughout the years about weight management and fitness.
Sourav Sarkar
Reviewer, Certified Fitness Instructor
Certified fitness trainer and an ex-professional bodybuilder, he has trained more than 500 fitness enthusiasts and has more than 15 years of on-the-job experience.
