A few years ago, I went down the injury rabbit hole:
- Bought and devoured over 10 running books in less than two months (my recommendations)
- Attended a “Yoga for Injury Prevention” class (waste of time)
- Surveyed tens of thousands of my readers (resulting in fascinating insights into how most runners think about and deal with injuries)
- Read more PubMed articles than I care to remember…
What emerged was a more comprehensive, well-rounded, and effective approach to injuries that has helped thousands of runners get – and stay – healthy.
Do you know what struck me as most surprising from all of this research? That even after having 10+ coaches and 15+ years of running experience, there was LOT I didnt know!
I believed I had a firm grasp on what it took to stay healthy. But I was wrong.
I realized that static stretching will not prevent injuries. That most runners were doing strength training all wrong. And heel-striking isn’t necessarily a “bad” thing.
Many runners have similar misconceptions about injury prevention – and I cover many of them here.
Let’s dive into one of the most widespread myths that pervade the running community: that strength training will help you stay healthy.
Does Strength Training Prevent Injuries?
Spoiler: of course strength training will help you stay healthy!
But there’s an enormous caveat: it’s not the most important element of prevention. If your running isn’t programmed well, you’ll likely get hurt no matter how much strength training you do.
After all, no amount of strength training can overcome poor training.
Episode 31 of Q&A with Coach dives into this topic in more detail:
Show Notes and Links:
:25 – Why do I keep getting injured when I’m rotating several of your strength routines?
1:00 – Why strength training won’t compensate for poor training structure
1:30 – What is “training structure?”
2:25 – The 3 most important elements of injury prevention
3:20 – Runner-specific strength and core routines that I recommend
The routines that I recommend in the video are:
Use these workouts to “sandwich” your run between a dynamic warm-up (like the Mattock Warm-up) and a runner-specific core/strength routine.
For more details on how to plan effective training, sign up here to learn about the most important aspect of injury prevention. The first lesson will be in your inbox within the hour.
