Don't Run to Get Fit, Get Fit to Run!

Can you guess the sport that will injure over60% of its participants?

Nope, not football.  Nor is it extreme dodgeball.  In fact, it’s running.

Shocked? Well, I’m not.  Look at the litanyof injuries that occur whenever people prepare for marathons, half marathons,etc.  I’ve known several people that haveinjured themselves during running, only to say that they can “tough itout.”  You only have one body, and I’malways surprised how people try to brush off injuries when a proper programshouldn’t injure you in the first place.

To make it clear, this post isn’t for those thatare already dedicated runners.  If thismeans you, just make sure you lift weights at least twice a week, and don’tabuse your body with repeated long runs.

For those that don’t enjoy running (like me) orare out of shape, running is one of riskiest ways to try and achieve yourfitness goals.  But before going further,I want to explore why people take up running, and why they’re most likely toget hurt.

Many look at running as the path of leastresistance to “getting fit.”  If you lookat the elite runners out there, they all tend to be slender, and in a culturethat’s obsessed with body image, it’s very tempting to say “I want to look likethat.”

Then, as people take up running, they want torun faster.  You start to think “Icurrently run 3 miles in 25 minutes, if I start running 6 miles, I can runthose 3 miles in 21 minutes!”  Well,that’s not quite how it works, and I have the heel spurs in both feet to proveit.

According to the SAID principle (specificadaptions to imposed demands), your body just learns to run longer, notfaster.  Sure, if you haven’t been activein some time, you will see gains if you pack on the mileage.  But,at the end of the day, you’re not teaching your body to run faster...you're crankingup the volume and risks of injury.

Now, you have that same person who wasoverweight and deconditioned running several miles almost everyday, with nofocus on actually getting stronger.  If that sameindividual had came to me and said “I want to lose weight,” I’m pretty sure Iwould have been fired immediately if I told them to jump on each foot 1,000 times ina row.  Yet, that’s exactly what peopleare doing when they run.

Is all running terrible?  Of course not, and for many people that liketo run, they should definitely lace up the sneaks and get after it.  However, only run after you have prepared yourbody for the pounding that will ensue. This means achieving appropriate ankle mobility (people lose the abilityto dorsiflex, or point their foot to their knee, as they get older), kneestability, hip mobility, and a few others. Also, if you have sufficient one leg strength, and core strength, you’rewell on your way to increasing your odds of being injury free.

Not everyone is made to run, and that’s totally OK.  If you want to run faster, the answer isintervals and nothing more.  Intervalssuck and you may think lifting weights is boring, but often times what you want to do is fardifferent from what you should do.