Rules of the Road: Tips For Staying Fit And Keeping Joints Healthy Through Running
September 19, 2013
Running is one of the most common forms of exercise, among elite athletes and regular, fitness conscious people alike. Whether you jog three-to-five times a week to keep active – like myself – or you regularly train for ultra-marathons, there is always that underlying risk of injury. Runner’s knee, Achilles tendonitis, shin splints, plantar fasciitis, stress fractures, hamstring issues – all common injuries we don’t like to say out loud, but unfortunately are often associated with running.
However, no need to hang up your running shoes yet. Following are key tips for safe and healthy running:
- Support means everything. This comes from both the shoes you wear and the terrain on which you run. Having the right support in your running shoes is key. Be sure to take note if you are arched or flat footed, then do some research on the best running shoe for you. A lot of specialty running stores, like Fleet Feet Sports here in Raleigh (where I go), can help determine the right shoe for you. You should also consider where you will do the majority of your running. If you run on hard ground such as concrete, you will probably need more cushion than you would should you choose to mostly run in grassy and soft-grounded trail-like areas. The “give” of the terrain plays a major role on how your joints react to the impact of your strides.
- Listen to your body. Even the most experienced runners can still experience sharp pains brought on by joint fluctuation and agitation. This is especially common in knees. Although hips have a smooth ‘ball and socket’ joint and ankles are designed to accommodate impact and rotation, knees tend to fall short in the functionality department. Cartilage and tissues can rapidly wear down from over-exertion and lack of support and stability. Make sure you rest between runs and stretch liberally during your warm-up and cool-down.
- Cross-train. From preventing and rehabilitating injuries, to improving overall fitness, cross-training is key. Supplement your running with strength training, swimming, biking, yoga – whatever tickles your fancy.
- Jump on the yoga bandwagon. Yoga helps strengthen your core and makes you more flexible – two elements that can keep you running injury-free.
Keep these tips in mind the next time you lace up and hit the streets or trails. Happy running!
Fascinating blog! Is your theme custom made or did you download it from somewhere? A design like yours with a few simple tweeks would really make my blog jump out. Please let me know where you got your theme. Thank you|
Thanks for sharing your thoughts about %meta_keyword%. Regards|
Hello friends, pleasant article and nice arguments commented here, I am actually enjoying by these.|
Wonderful article! We are linking to this great content on our site. Keep up the great writing.
I loved as much as you will receive carried out right here. The sketch is tasteful, your authored material stylish. nonetheless, you command get got an shakiness over that you wish be delivering the following. unwell unquestionably come further formerly again since exactly the same nearly very often inside case you shield this hike.
Keep working ,terrific job!
I like what you guys are up also. Such smart work and reporting! Keep up the superb works guys I have incorporated you guys to my blogroll. I think it will improve the value of my web site 🙂
Pretty nice post. I just stumbled upon your weblog and wished to say that I have truly enjoyed surfing around your blog posts. After all I will be subscribing to your feed and I hope you write again soon!
whoah this weblog is fantastic i love reading your posts. Keep up the good work! You understand, a lot of individuals are looking round for this info, you can help them greatly.
hi!,I like your writing very so much! share we be in contact extra approximately your post on AOL? I require an expert on this area to solve my problem. Maybe that’s you! Looking ahead to look you.
I have been surfing on-line more than three hours these days, but I never discovered any attention-grabbing article like yours. It is pretty price sufficient for me. In my opinion, if all webmasters and bloggers made just right content material as you did, the net can be much more useful than ever before.
My spouse and i ended up being now thrilled when Peter could deal with his investigations through the ideas he acquired from your own weblog. It is now and again perplexing to just always be giving away things which often many others could have been trying to sell. And we acknowledge we need you to thank because of that. Most of the illustrations you have made, the easy web site menu, the relationships you will help engender – it’s got everything awesome, and it is assisting our son in addition to us know that that idea is fun, which is certainly rather vital. Many thanks for all the pieces!
I¡¦ll right away take hold of your rss as I can’t find your e-mail subscription link or e-newsletter service. Do you have any? Kindly permit me recognise so that I may just subscribe. Thanks.
I think other web-site proprietors should take this site as an model, very clean and magnificent user friendly style and design, let alone the content. You are an expert in this topic!
Excellent goods from you, man. I have understand your stuff previous to and you are just too excellent. I actually like what you’ve acquired here, certainly like what you are stating and the way in which you say it. You make it entertaining and you still take care of to keep it sensible. I can not wait to read far more from you. This is really a wonderful site.
I am not sure where you’re getting your info, but good topic. I needs to spend some time learning much more or understanding more. Thanks for fantastic info I was looking for this info for my mission.
Hi there! I could have sworn I’ve been to this blog before but after reading through some of the post I realized it’s new to me. Anyhow, I’m definitely glad I found it and I’ll be book-marking and checking back frequently!|
Thank you for the sensible critique. Me & my neighbor were just preparing to do a little research about this. We got a grab a book from our area library but I think I learned more from this post. I’m very glad to see such fantastic info being shared freely out there.
I blog quite often and I truly appreciate your content. This article has truly peaked my interest. I’m going to book mark your site and keep checking for new details about once a week. I subscribed to your RSS feed as well.
Wow! Thank you! I constantly wanted to write on my blog something like that. Can I include a fragment of your post to my blog?