Running Injury Prevention Exercises To Keep You Pain Free This Winter
Updated: Oct 26
Running injury prevention exercises: a short routine of 6 stretches and 4 strengthening exercises to keep you injury-free and help you to run faster.
Did you know that around 50% of runners get injured every year? Might make you feel less alone but at the same time you may feel like running pain-free isn't realistic. Luckily for you, you came across this article and you can now learn some of the running injury-prevention exercises, that can unlock a less injury-riddled future.
You may also like: How runners should train in the gym.
Running injury prevention exercises... Why do we need them?
If you are quite knowledgeable about how we evolved as humans, then you may know that we once used to run animals to exhaustion as a form of hunting, our ancestors were quite the runners. So, why could we run for miles on end constantly through evolution, but now we get injured off relatively low mileage in comparison to our ancestors?
There are 2 main reasons for modern-day running injuries: Chairs and Shoes.
1) Chairs
When an infant child picks up one of their toys off the floor, they will squat down into a position that most of us could not get into if our lives depended on it. They usually have this ability for around the first 5 years of their lives. They tend to lose this ability just as they are forced to sit down for 6 hours a day in school. Sitting down shortens your hip flexors, shortens your quads, tightens up your lower back muscles, and also makes your glutes very inactive.
The problem with this is that your glutes should be the main muscle you use when you are running, however, most people's glutes hardly activate at all. This means other muscles are taking the toll. Muscles that were simply not built for running. This is partly the reason for a lot of injuries for modern-day runners.
2) Shoes
Another modern-day invention which we cannot escape- is shoes. Shoes are great, and just like chairs, I am not going to recommend you completely give them up. But, it is important for you to understand what they have done to our bodies over time.
For example, the fact that shoes have a heel raise on them has shortened our Achilles and calf muscles. Wearing shoes also promotes an anterior pelvic tilt, which contributes to the following problems:
Tight lower back muscles
Tight hip flexors
Tight quads
Inactive glutes
These are just 2 reasons why humans are more injury-prone in the modern day. However, there are ways to combat this...
Running injury prevention exercises
I am going to break these running injury prevention exercises down into stretches for runners and strengthening movements. Although some exercises may be a mixture of both, this is because of a method some experts like to call 'strength through length'.
6 Stretches for Runners
There are some stretches that every runner should be doing- for me these are the 6 most important to help reset your body.
For each of these stretches be sure to hold for 30-40 seconds. Make sure to do them after exercise and not before. For added benefits you can use a foam roller or a massage stick to massage the muscle you have stretched, this helps the muscle to maintain a new length.
Another great way to maintain and improve your flexibility and mobility is to incorporate dynamic stretches into your warm-up routine.
Soleus stretch
This stretch aids in improving ankle mobility. The importance of ankle mobility for runners cannot be understated. When we run our bodies absorb 2-3.5 times our body weight with each step and our ankles act as shock absorbers. Better ankle mobility means better shock absorption and therefore fewer injuries.
It is also a good idea to add in a stretch for your gastrocnemius, especially if you struggle with lower leg injuries.
Hip flexor stretch
Tight hip flexors reduce the glute's ability to activate. Lazy glutes lead to injury. By getting your glutes to fire better you can expect benefits such as; fewer injuries, a more powerful and longer stride, and a bigger bum.
Hip flexor and Quad stretch
This exercise helps to loosen up your hip flexors and your quadriceps. This stretch will help you to become less quad-dominant and therefore will help you to activate your glutes better.
A bonus of this stretch is that by loosening off your quads and hip flexors you can learn to run with a longer and smoother stride.
Pigeon pose
This stretch helps to loosen off your glutes and lower back, which is important if you are to become a runner who activates your glutes more.
Hamstring stretch
Your hamstrings play a massive role in the running motion, especially faster running or sprinting. Stretching your hamstrings will take some of the strain off of your knees and also decrease your risk of hamstring strains.
Knee to chest stretch
This stretch will help to loosen off your glutes and will also help to open up your hips.
Having a proper range of motion through this movement will help you to open up your stride.
4 strengthening exercises
These strengthening running injury prevention exercises will not be big heavy movements (although they have their place in injury prevention). The reason they are not included in this blog is that if you have muscle imbalances and you do bilateral heavy lifts, then this can make these muscle imbalances worse and lead to more issues. All of these exercises can also help you run faster.
Tibialis raises
4x 25 reps
The tibialis anterior is one of the most undertrained muscles in the body. By training your tibialis anterior you can reduce your injury risk and improve your performance.
Benefits:
Reduced risk of shin splints
Strengthen the area around your knee to reduce knee pain
Improved ankle mobility
ATG split squat
4x 4-5 reps (each side)
This is one of the best exercises to prevent injury. It can look like a hard exercise to do, however there a plenty of regressions that can help you to achieve this movement.
Benefits:
Improved ankle mobility
Strengthens your muscles through their full range of motion
Improves hip flexor flexibility
To learn more about this exercise and then benefits for runners, check out this blog:
Sled drag
You will probably need a gym to do this exercise. However, it is very worth it.
Sled drag helps to get your knees over your toes, so you are going to be strengthening your legs in the position in which they are most susceptible to injury- but in a safe way. The sled drag will strengthen all the muscles around your knees without putting them at risk.
You may also like: How To Use A Gym Ball To Get A Strong Core.
ATG calf raises
The ATG calf raise is similar to a normal calf raise but strengthens through a longer range of motion. By strengthening your calves through the full range of motion you will be less prone to injury. You will also be strengthening your Achilles and improving the amount of load it can manage, meaning not only your Achilles but your whole body will be less prone to injury when running. This exercise will also improve your ankle mobility.
The ATG program
Many of these exercises are recommended by the ATG program created by Ben Patrick. If you want to learn more about the ATG Program then click this link to find more blogs: GeorgeLewisHealth Injury Prevention For Runners.
To sign up for the ATG program and get your personalised program to develop your athletic ability, run faster, jump higher, and perform to the highest of your ability, then click the button below:
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