Signs You’re Heading For An Injury

Thanks to years of experience, coaches can always tell when a runner is teetering on the brink of an injury. Runners often downplay when they’re hurting for fear of having to interrupt their training regime and fall behind, but it’s important that they take care of themselves.

Being able to read between the lines of what you are doing and what your body is telling you will help you identify if you’re on course for an injury. Spotting the signs early will help you avert a long and forced break to recover.

1.     A Streak of Bad Days

We all have bad days every now and then, but if you’re having an ‘off day’ for the third time this week, then this is a definite red flag. Although you may not have any specific aches or pains yet, performing when tired makes your running suffer and opens you up to acute injuries like sprained ankles and overuse injuries.

2.     Bad Sleeping Habits

 When you see a fellow runner posting on social media in the small hours of the morning, you know they’re close to injury. It’s a big mistake to think you can train hard and not sleep. In fact, runners are more than one and a half times more likely to get hurt when they aren’t getting enough sleep.

3.     From Chair to Workout

For most of us, our day jobs keep us sedentary; whether it’s in an office chair or the commute in the car seat, most of us fail to transition our bodies from inactivity to the stress of running properly. Pre-run mobility exercises like lunges and leg swings help strengthen and activate key muscles, helping you warm up and make running easier.

4.     Restrictive Diets

Runners who declare entire food groups as ‘off-limits’ during their training are at an increased risk of injury through being undernourished. Missing certain nutrients that their bodies need to respond to the demands of training will mean the body is going to struggle, and injury will become an inevitability. If you are dedicated to training for a running event, then seeing a dietician for a consultation is a great way to know exactly what to eat.