With hospitals and other healthcare institutions all over Australia working hard to contain the spread COVID-19, getting injured and requiring medical attention is the last thing that you want to happen. This means that you need to be extra careful when exercising—highlighting the need to take extra precautions so as not to get injured due to overexertion!
One of the best ways to remain physically fit is by running. The benefits of this simple exercise include improved cardiovascular fitness, weight loss, improved muscular strength, and more. However, contrary to popular belief, running is not as straightforward as it appears! While it may seem like a natural movement, doing it for a sustained period without proper training can result in injuries.
While sports physiotherapists in Brisbane can always help you recover your muscle injury, the precarious nature of COVID-19 means that now, more than ever, prevention is better than cure.
For many people, running seems like a straightforward exercise that everybody knows how to do. This overconfidence results in many new runners increasing their mileage too quickly, thus resulting in overexertion. This advice holds for both new and veteran runners: listen to your body and pace yourself.
A good rule of thumb to follow is not to try running more than 10km per session during your first week. If you want to challenge yourself, try starting at 5 km and work your way up to 6 - 7 km to give your body the time to adjust to your active lifestyle.
Don’t run every day, either. Give yourself at least a full day in between runs to allow your body to recover! If you struggle finishing even at 5km, then stick to it until it becomes easier. Once it becomes less of a challenge, only then should your distance climb up.
If you keep getting injured even after changing your pace, then it’s possible that biomechanics could be your problem. No two bodies are the same, so a running technique that works fine for others may not always work for you. Because running is something that we all do instinctively from when we were children, we may not be aware that our running posture is “unorthodox” and is causing us to be more prone to running injuries.
For example, people who have a longer stride often put excessive pressure on their knees and subsequently develop front knee pain. Particularly extreme cases can develop into Patellofemoral Pain Syndrome, a condition that describes continuous pain in the front of the knee and around the patella or kneecap.
Meanwhile, Iliotibial band friction syndrome or more commonly known as hip pain is common among people whose knees rub together while running. People with this type of characteristic are what’s called a “knock-kneed runner.” Another common unorthodox running position that can cause knee and hip injuries is duck walking, which is characterised by people walking and running with their feet turned outwards.
In all these three cases, prolonged running will undoubtedly lead to injuries. The good news is that a competent physiotherapist can correct these problems. If you have any of these three conditions, it’s best to stop doing running exercises and work with a physiotherapist near you.
Running is an excellent way to keep both your body and mind healthy during the pandemic. However, be sure to keep things in moderation and listen to what your body tells you. While a little bit of challenge is always good when it comes to exercise, it should not lead to injuries.
In light of the fear of contracting COVID-19, Anytime Physio is proud to be one of the few clinics that offer online physiotherapy consultation in Brisbane. Besides physiotherapy, we also do clinical pilates, dry needling, and climbing injury rehabilitation, among other things. Contact us today and let us know how we can help you out!