At MOTIVNY, we treat athletes with all different running experiences and goals. Interestingly enough, we still see common mistakes across all of the athletes that end up on our tables. We’re going to take a deeper dive into some of the most commonly seen mistakes when it comes to running, training, and returning to activity after rehab and how to go about solving them:
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Photo by David Paz
- The Terrible Too’s - often times with new runners will fall prey to too much mileage, too fast, too soon. This overzealousness can also apply to runners returning to the pavement after a lapse in their training.
- Fix - make sure that you’re slowly building up your volume over time and not changing too many variables at one (i.e. frequency, distance, intensity, etc.) A general rule of thumb is increasing mileage by 10% each week.
- Lack of Warmup - many people opt to skip the warmup in lieu of using the first portion of their run as the warmup. This can set the tone for your run and leave you more susceptible to injury.
- Fix - set aside and allocate 5-10 minutes prior to run to focus on dynamic movements that will increase your body temperature, elevate your HR, improve circulation, and prime your tissues. Follow along here for some ideas.
- Overtraining - it is a common misconception that more running will always yield more progress and faster miles. Without a proper appreciation of the demands that running places on the body, overuse injuries are all too common along with burnout and lack of motivation.
- Fix - create a training plan (with the assistance of a coach or your PT) that is based on realistic goals, which factor in appropriate rest and recovery strategies. Look for common overtraining symptoms such as reduced performance, generalized fatigue, and signals from your body.
- Diversity in Training - because of the repetitive nature of running and lack of variability, athletes tend to develop areas of opportunity in things such as frontal plane stability and generalized lower body strength/power.
- Fix - to make the body more resilient and mitigate the chance of injuries, it is wise to work in cross-training (i.e. cycling, swimming, etc.) and strength training, in particular.
- Rehab and Return to Activity - one of the biggest issues that is commonly seen from an injury standpoint is a failure to bridge the gap between rehabilitation and training. Rehab and training should be seen more as a seamless transition along a continuum as opposed to two separate entities. Once general impairments have been addressed and the prerequisite met, there is more work to be done. It is not sufficient to just return to running when pain has subsided.
- Fix - make sure that you are working with someone who understands these principles and that the work you do with them reflects this. Beyond basic strengthening, more eccentric loading and re-introduction to plyometric activities needs to be a part of the process to properly prepare the athlete for return to sport.
In light of this topic, we are offering a 6-week Athletic Development Workshop with our newest Coach, Kristina. Our newest outdoor programming is designed for anyone that’s looking to enhance their performance, mitigate injury, and return to sport. Some of the prerequisite skills that will be developed are speed (ability to cover distance at a fast rate), agility (ability to change body position efficiently and under control), and quickness (quality of moving fast in a short period of time). Click here to reserve your spot in our Athletic Development Workshop this Thursday @ 7PM, East River Park Track.
