Starting running after an injury

Factors to consider

Let’s see together 3 important factors to consider before returning to running after an injury.

Evolution of rehabilitation

There recovery must be gradual and the rhythm must be based on the evolution of rehabilitation. If the body took a while to get used to the treatments, how he answered and in what times important factors remain. The expert or the expert who followed you can be very valuable in assessing whether the postural structure, the biomechanical analysis, the strength and safety can be adequate enough to be able to go back to running or at least to alternate between running and walk. The recovery must certainly be gradual.

An injury could also be a great ally for learning to listen to yourself and it could be transformed into a real project to feel the contact with your own structure.

Course of the walk

Going for a walk will recondition the soft tissues (muscles, tendons, ligaments, connective structure), that is prepare for impact far more important than running. You get used to the roll of the foot and you better study the recovery of all phases of the step (the so-called gait cycle which includes the oscillation and support phase). In walking steadily and at a not too fast pace, you go to calibrate the impact of the heel on the ground, a certain stability of the limbs is found and a coordinated progression is resumed at a regular rhythm. Balance the times between rest and movement.

Overall strength and fatigue

Even if you feel you can resume and are planning to run the next race soon or you are stimulated by close people who may be runners like you, you should first of all listen to your body and possibly nothing else (physiotherapist or osteopath or trusted chiropractor apart). The upcoming goal shouldn’t rush you and you should learn how to also enjoy the slow recovery, in order to run more frequently and with concrete goals in the medium term.

Even if the head says to run the same way as before, even if the habits do not remember the forced stop, the body knows it well. Let go of the ego and avoid demonstrating. Protect yourself and feel good body fatigue.

Consider the nature of the injury well

We must evaluate well how serious and what kind it was the accident and by which expert we were followed. The body tends to protect the injured area, this both when exercising and when resting or performing regular daily functions. Going into hip protection means closing forward on the corresponding side; protecting one knee often means loading the other.

There injured area initially it appears rigid, less effective, weak, “crumpled”. For this it needs more attention, which means improving the yield taking into account that although the mind leads us to “overdo it”, the body knows everything. The mind often retraces the injury, especially if it is unexpected, unexpected, truly traumatic. You have to create new memories for all muscle groups and trust again.

Whatever the nature of the injury, one must always keep a basic heating program, running alternating with walking and the final cool-down. Starting slowly and correctly you can get truly amazing results. There initial part of the workout it activates the joints, activates specific muscles, activates the body and the oxygenation system, increases body temperature and blood flow, prepares the tissues. For the nervous system this moment remains very important and is equivalent to saying: “I’m starting“. Understand that if one party has suffered an injury, that hint of initiation becomes truly paramount.

The psychological component

Always try to breathe through your nose, especially when preparing your body for running. Breathing also means tell the body: “accompany me!” and allows you to maintain direct contact with an integral view of the body. When you start running after a stop caused by an injury, the observation phase must remain serene, calm. It involves monitoring the various parts of the body.

Control without anxiety, find a creative way to listen to yourself and choose how to continue and how to alternate pace and level of effort. If you don’t like your current body, act at the level of nutrition, do multi-joint exercises, go to strengthen, remove sweets and alcohol: make sure you don’t resume running without reactivating your metabolism.

To maintain some security it becomes very important feeling strong and energetic remembering that every day changes compared to the other and, if one day you wake up very unmotivated, keep focus it allows you to continue to keep your mind in a positive attitude.

Don’t compare with how you ran before the injury; the success of each training must be your priority. You can’t waste time in between complaints, nostalgia and fears; this totally displaces results, raises expectations and brings disappointments closer. You have to enjoy the shooting, do not experience it as a punishment. Running after an injury puts you in front of a “queen” question: for what reason am I running? Why did I start? Why do I want to go back to doing it? These are the basic reasons that will put you in close contact with the pleasure of awakening the body.

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