We have many people come into my office with those nagging Running injuries that don’t go away. I always tell them, if you are having a nagging running injuries from a workout that pops up and stays around for longer than 1-2 weeks, you have a problem.
The nagging injuries won’t go away and can linger for months and years until it eventually will shut you down. Our bodies have an amazing ability to compensate and continue on with what you want the body to do, until it can’t do it anymore.
Most runners do not want to stop running. But if you do not do things to take care of your body even as we age, these injuries will shut you down. And the worst thing for a runner is to not be able to run.
Most the runners I know (including myself), run to help reduce stress, or helping their mental state function better during the day. Running is also a lot of clients social avenues as well.
So what are some ways we can stop those nagging running injuries before they get too serious so that it does not stop you from running?
Here are my 5 Tips to get Rid of those Nagging Running Injuries.
TIP 1: Take a Rest Break and cross train to help reduce your Nagging Running Injuries
Your body might need a break. It is not recovering. So give it a break. Taking a day or 2 off is not the end of the world. Listen to your body.
It is amazing what resting one day can do for your body. I understand we are always on the go with exercising and wanting to do more. But listening to the body and just sleeping in can help you avoid those nagging running injuries.
Also cross train. That does not mean doing something else aerobic like cycling, but getting into the gym and lifting weights. Other ideas for strengthening is doing a Pilates class class or Yoga class. Both these should be apart of your running programs.
Staying strong even in your upper body will help with your running and help keep those nagging running injuries away.
TIP 2: Reduce your Stress will help reduce your Nagging Running Injuries
Have you noticed that when you are under a stress time, that your body does not feel good while training? Your workouts seem to be harder. That you are not recovering from your workouts…
Your body is spending so much time and energy with the event that you are stressed about that when you try to put energy into a workout, it just is not there. Stress and pushing your workouts can lead to those nagging running injuries.
So go to a Yoga class or take 3 deep breaths and do this 3-4 times a day, you might be surprised how it can help reduce your stress levels. Put a timer on your phone to go off our put it in your calendar to take 3-4 long breaths.
This will help calm down your central nervous system to put your body in more of a calm state.
So get in the habit of talking 3 deep breaths throughout the day or before you eat to keep your body in the restful state. We tend to be on the run all the time, but we need to give our body a break from the constant daily grind.
Tip 3: Get good sleep will help reduce those Nagging Running Injuries.
When you do not get good sleep, your body will be tired and therefore when you push your body with your workouts your recovery will not be good. The lack of recovery can lead you down the path of a nagging running injury.
So make sure you go to bed at the same time each night or do mediation before going to sleep to slow your brain down. Getting good sleep will help to your body recover from your workouts better and will help you with healing.
Tip 4: Good Nutrition will help reduce those Nagging Running Injuries
Poor nutrition also leads to poor recovery. The American Diet is highly inflammatory and will eventually lead you down the path of injuries and disease if you do not make changes. So what do you eat? A diet full of fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds and healthy fats are what we need to eat.
They are full of antioxidants. These foods fuel us to recovery faster so that we can push ourselves more if we want to. The average person needs to get 9-13 servings of good fruits, veggies, nuts, seeds and healthy fats in their body everyday, but if you exercise the servings goes up.
Depending on how much you exercise, it can be as much as 20-25 servings of fruits and vegetables that you need daily. Wow! I know I was shocked too when I learned this information.
So add more fruits and veggies and healthy fats into your diet. You need to eat more than you think!
Tip 5: Go to a Physical Therapist who is good at diagnosing the source of the problem
A consultation with a physical therapist to get an assessment can help keep you going and figure out what needs to be done to keep you working towards your workouts and goals. If your pain and tightness is lasting longer than 1-2 weeks and these tips do not help, you need to see a specialist.
This is nothing serious, but your body is out of balance in some way. The longer you wait, the more layers we as a physical therapist go through to get you back to your training. Often we can keep you training while you are doing physical therapy and we can definitely and get you back to your activities quicker.
Are you ready to get help? Are you looking for a physical therapist in Dallas? Did you know we offer a FREE Discovery visit. A discovery session is an opportunity to get a better understanding of what the root cause is for your injury and allow us to help you know what the next best steps are for you for FREE! We do this so that we can get to know YOU better and LISTEN to you so we can get a greater understanding of what you want to get back to doing.
The Best way to request a Discovery Visit is to Fill out this form by clicking HERE. It goes directly to my client care specialist and they will contact you about scheduling your FREE Discovery Session. Not ready yet?
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Specifically, here is a testimonial of someone who thought they never could get better with all their aches and pains they were having. The doctors told her she just had to live with it and felt like she was too young to be having all these problems. Check out her story
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