#run

Injury Prevention in Running - Part 2: Foot Strike

Nicole Coffey, one of the owners of Ladner Village Physiotherapy, is a life long runner with several half marathons under her belt. This blog is the second instalment in a three part series on common running injuries and how to prevent them. Enjoy!

Light Blue and Grey Foods Plain Collage Instagram Post (1).png

In a continuation from my last blog, here are a few more commonly misunderstood running topics. Hopefully they save you some time and some pain. As always, if you have any questions about your specific running style or gait please feel free to contact the clinic for an assessment with one of our physiotherapists!

Heel Strike vs Midfoot or Forefoot Strike

This debate came to the forefront quite some time ago when the minimalist shoe fad hit town. And yes, it’s true that people with a heel strike have a higher chance of knee pain (1). BUT: those who have a mid-foot strike have an equal and proportionate risk of Achilles and calf injuries (2), so it’s one or the other, one is not superior.

The “evil heel-strike theory” was based on the concept that landing on your heel meant you were increasing your “braking force” as the ground reaction force pushed back at you (in the opposite direction that you were travelling) and therefore you would have to work harder to overcome that. Turns out that isn’t true!

There is no difference in the efficiency of running for a heel strike vs. a midfoot strike.

Also worth noting, if you happen to be a rear-foot striker and you try to change yourself to a mid-foot striker you increase your chance of injury to your calf and Achilles pain (3) So, run the way you run. The majority of people prefer a heel strike. A heel strike is not the devil it was once made out to be, and if you try to change your gait pattern you are probably doing yourself more of a disservice. Time to focus your energy on more helpful techniques.

Cadence 

This is one topic people don’t often think to ask me, but I feel like it’s worth noting. Should you pay attention to your cadence? My answer to this one is “yes, it couldn’t hurt.”

Cadence is the number of steps you take in one minute. An elite runner will run about 180 steps per minute, efficient recreational runners should aim for 160-170 steps per minute. Increasing cadence can indeed decrease some risk of knee pain.  This is because a slower cadence means you are taking longer steps, which means you are spending more time in the air and actually travel a little higher, which means you are landing harder and from a higher height.  This heavier landing puts extra strain and impact on your joints.  “Subtle increases in step rate can substantially reduce the loading to the hip and knee joints during running and may prove beneficial in the prevention and treatment of common running-related injuries.” (3).  

Also note that taking faster steps does not mean you have to run faster. You can still run a 6 minute mile or a 10 minute mile, the difference is if you are taking big huge long slow strides vs tiny quick little steps.

“Calm brain fast feet” - I’m not sure where that saying is from but I really like it.

Once again, remember that any change must be implemented gradually. If you increase your cadence by more than 10% you decrease running efficiency, which means you are going to work harder and get tired more quickly, which is not the point.

Happy running everybody! Next up we will talk about the role of stretching and foam rolling for runners!

Looking for the other instalments? Check out Part 1 - Running Volume and Part 3 - Strength Training!

Injury Prevention in Running - Part 1: Running Volume

Nicole Coffey, one of the owners of Ladner Village Physiotherapy, is a life long runner with several half marathons under her belt. This blog is the first instalment in a three part series on common running injuries and how to prevent them. Enjoy!

I’m really glad I am finally writing about this as I’m sure all of you know, the injury rate when running is extremely high. As a matter of fact, 54% of people training for a marathon will report a lower extremity injury during their training or their race (1).  Another source says the reported injury rate can be up to 79.3% (2). And, if you’re curious, about half of those injuries will be knee injuries.

To me those statistics are very scary, but also completely accurate. I cannot think of a single runner that I know personally who has never suffered from a running related injury (myself included). Because of this, runners take prevention of future injuries quite seriously.  So today I would like to begin to go over some errors in training that can increase your risk of injury. In future blogs I am also going to discuss misconceptions that people have about reducing injury and shed some light on some beliefs that runners hold that are actually not true at all. If you’re spending the time training and trying to prevent injury the last thing I want is you unintentionally wasting your time, especially if that effort could be redirected to something else that actually might help you stay injury-free. So without further ado, let’s jump right in shall we?

The most important factor in avoiding injury is to avoid overloading yourself.  You must increase your volume slowly.

When used in terms of running, volume refers to the total amount of work you are doing (including the distance you are running and the intensity of that run). The first and most common mistake that I see is people increasing their volume too quickly.

Maybe they were on vacation and missed a few weeks of training so they decide to “cram” in a couple of extra runs to get back onto their training schedule, or maybe they want to run with a friend who runs 12km every weekend even though they haven’t done more than 5km in months but decide to go for it anyways. This time of year is so common for running injuries because people have renewed enthusiasm for fitness in the new year and suddenly decide they are going to run five times per week in order to shed a few pounds or get back into shape even though they have never run a day in their life.

Don’t get me wrong, I love that people love running. I love running too, but unfortunately all of the situations I listed above seem to end the same way. And that usually involves a client in my office feeling defeated and discouraged because of a running injury.

download.jpg

So here is the take home message for week 1: Slow and steady wins the race.

Running volume should not increase by more than 10% per week.

If you increase your volume too quickly (considered more than 15% per week), YOU CAN QUADRUPLE YOUR LIKELIHOOD OF INJURY (3). So I repeat, slow and steady wins the race. Give yourself enough time in your training that you won’t feel rushed and still be able to achieve your goal.

If you’re looking for some guidance for how to increase your volume without overdoing it, check out these resources:

  • For a straight forward list of what to do week by week, take a look at the SportMedBC InTraining program.

  • Interested in joining a local group? The Run Inn in Tsawwassen runs several fabulous groups aimed at all running abilities!

  • There are tonnes of apps for both iOS and Android. Two great ones are Couch to 5k and Couch to 10k, depending on your goal distance.

So there you go. Tip #1 is to avoid overloading. Gradual increases in speed and intensity will get you where you need to go. Be patient and trust the process. Happy running everybody!

Looking for the other instalments? Find Part 2 - Running Cadence and Foot Strike and Part 3 - Strength Training here!

Ladner Village Physiotherapy exists in what is colonially known as Delta, on the traditional, occupied and unceded territory of the hən̓q̓əmin̓əm̓ speaking people. As health care providers, we actively strive to understand the role of intergenerational trauma and health inequities applied through systemic and institutionalized racism with the goal of providing equitable and person-centred health care for all.