How to avoid running injuries

As a runner, there is nothing worse than having to deal with an injury. Even minor niggles can have a huge impact on our runs, making them painful or even needing us to take a break for a few weeks. So, how do we avoid getting them in the first place?

We spoke to Anna Kosciuk, who is the Sports Scientist at NURVV.com, for her expert advice on preventing running injuries.

1. Appreciate old injuries or niggles

Quite often new injuries develop as a result of incomplete healing of the old traumas or because the body has developed compensatory motion pathways to offload tissues that were previously damaged. Therefore, proper rehab and working on building and maintaining strength around the injured area is key for your maximising injury prevention and future performance.

2. Manage your training load

Overtraining or unnecessary spikes in your training schedule can easily cause injuries. Making sure that you’re not doing too much overall, or too much in one go, is key. NURVV offers a Running Health feature that gives a personalised daily and 7-day distance recommendation designed to help you stay in the optimal training zone to maximise injury prevention and good performance.

3. Get the right footwear for you

Ensure that you’re running in footwear that is suited for your running gait and that matches the function of your foot. Shoe geometry, sole thickness, shoe types and weight are just a few factors that influence movement of your feet on the ground, which can cause injury over time if it’s not happening correctly.

4. Maintain a good fitness level

Even though running engages your whole body, it heavily depends on single leg strength. Working on that through cross-training is important in-between your running sessions. Ensuring good foot and ankle mobility will also help to make you a stronger and better runner.

5. Make use of wearable tech

Understanding your gait and noticing unusual changes to your running data will help you to quickly identify weaknesses and refine your training plan to tackle them before they become injuries. Wearable tech such as NURVV is great, as it’s easy to do regularly and you can do it yourself.

6. Listen to your body

Whenever your body feels like it needs a break, take a day or two’s rest. Having sufficient recovery time instead of completing an intense session might feel counter-intuitive when you’re training, but it will save you from overuse injuries.

About the expert

Anna is a Sports Scientist at NURVV.com, who make smart insoles that record your running technique. You can hear more from Anna and find out more about NURVV here.