INSPO Fitness Journal September 2017

How to remain injury free for
ROUND THE
BRIDGES
Hamilton’s most iconic fun run is almost here. Scheduled
for Sunday November 19, more than 5500 runners
and walkers are set to take part in Lugton’s Round the
Bridges. It’s time to get registered, develop a training
schedule, embrace those early morning runs and use it as
a head-start to summer fitness!
BY KRISTINA DRILLER
If you have already started training or are
contemplating entering, then read on for
a few tips to remain injury free and run or
walk your way to a new personal best.
When training for an event like Round
the Bridges, it’s easy to become injured if you
haven’t run for a while. Remain injury free
by listening to your body.
Start out slowly and build up the mileage
each week and session. A good rule of
thumb when starting out is the 10% rule
for increasing volume - only increase your
mileage by a maximum of 10% from one
week to the next.
If you have decided to take up running
or have had issues with ankles, knees or
hips from running, then consider visiting
a physiotherapist, exercise physiologist
or rehabilitation podiatrist to assess your
gait (running technique) and any muscular
imbalances. This can make a huge difference
to your performance and prevent injury
by strengthening weak areas and becoming
aware of faults in your stride.
Consider approaching a fitness professional
for a programme to strengthen the
lower body and core. Bodyweight exercises
that you can perform anywhere without
equipment will increase strength and resilience
to the impact of running.
Bodyweight exercises could include
squats, lunges, calf raises, deadlifts and
planks. Running is a single leg movement, so
beginning with bilateral exercises (both legs)
and then progressing to more advanced single
leg movements will increase the strength
of each leg individually.
If ready for single leg movements in your
programme, including them will prevent the
dominant leg from taking over and doing
more work than the weaker leg, which can
happen during bilateral exercises.
There is a bounty of mobility information
out there at the moment, but what should a
runner be focusing on? Foam rolling, stretching,
mobility with power bands, eldoa stretches
– there are so many different methods out
there. Not having space to go into detail about
all these different modalities, I have listed an
ideal stretching routine which would complement
a regular running schedule.
If you are naturally quite flexible then
you may not need to stretch as often as
someone who has tight muscles. Remember
to stretch when your muscles are warm -
after your run or at the end of your gym
session are both good times to get in your
mobility routine 1 . The American College of
Sports Medicine recommends static stretching
for most individuals, preceded by an
active warm-up, two to three days a week. It
is recommended to hold each stretch for 15
– 30 seconds, two to four times 1 .
Quad stretch
The token quad stretch is
fine for this, begin standing
and hold onto your left ankle
or foot. Keep your hips in
alignment and your thighs
level with each other. Squeeze
the gluteals on both sides
to increase the stretch, you
should feel it down the front
of the left thigh. Hold for 10
– 30 seconds depending on
how tight your hip flexors are,
repeat two to four times each
side.
Glute stretch
Lay on your back with one knee bent and the
opposite ankle on the opposing knee. Pull the thigh
to your chest of the leg that’s on the floor and feel
the stretch in the opposite glute. Repeat two to
four times each side, holding for 15 - 30 seconds,
depending on how tight your glutes are.
22 INSPO – FITNESS JOURNAL SEPTEMBER 2017