How to Prevent Running Injuries?

Even if you’re not injured, you should always be thinking about how to prevent injuries. Good running habits are so important, because the majority of running injuries can be prevented by eliminating the root causes. To eliminate these root causes, you need to increase the ability of your tissues to tolerate a force repeatedly and/or decrease the cumulative amount of force.
You can increase the ability of your tissues to tolerate repeated forces by doing the following:

1. Regularly stretching the major muscles, tendons, and ligaments that are worked when you run.
2. Correcting muscle imbalances that require a given body part to work harder when you run than it’s designed to.
3. Increasing your mileage and intensity gradually so that your body has a chance to adapt to an increased workload.

The second main way to prevent running injuries is to regularly reduce the cumulative amount of shock that you subject your body to. Among the ways to do that are the following:

1. Running on soft surfaces, such as dirt and grass, whenever possible.
2. Running in shoes that have adequate cushioning and that have extra cushioning in the appropriate place if you land hard on a certain part of your foot.
3. Running the appropriate number of miles to meet your goals, not just mindlessly amassing miles. Even the best-constructed body will eventually break down with too many miles.

You’ll also reduce the amount of shock to your body if you run at an appropriate weight. Beginning runners who might be overweight should therefore be especially careful about running on soft surfaces in well-cushioned shoes.