Recurring Running Injuries
Focus program design on prevention for recreational runners.
If you train someone who enjoys running and has had to take breaks in the past to nurse their Achilles tendon, for example, consider investing more time in injury prevention. It’s important because current running injuries can lead to future injuries, too. A new study by Swedish researchers from the University of Gothenburg in Gothenburg, Sweden, found that recreational runners with a prior injury were twice as likely to sustain a running-related injury as runners with no previous injury.
Investigators observed 224 recreational male and female adult runners for 1 year. Runners completed an average of 15 kilometers per week during the 1-year period and reported any pain and running-related injuries. The cumulative proportion of injuries was 45.9%, and the most common injury sites were the knee (27%) and the Achilles tendon/calf (25%).
These findings were published in the Journal of Orthopaedic & Sports Physical Therapy (2021; 51 [3], 144–50).
Shirley Eichenberger-Archer, JD, MA
Shirley Archer, JD, MA, is an internationally acknowledged integrative health and mindfulness specialist, best-selling author of 16 fitness and wellness books translated into multiple languages and sold worldwide, award-winning health journalist, contributing editor to Fitness Journal, media spokesperson, and IDEA's 2008 Fitness Instructor of the Year. She's a 25-year industry veteran and former health and fitness educator at the Stanford Prevention Research Center, who has served on multiple industry committees and co-authored trade books and manuals for ACE, ACSM and YMCA of the USA. She has appeared on TV worldwide and was a featured trainer on America's Next Top Model.
