The london marathon is fast approaching, it will soon be time to begin final preparations.

The CSP’s online survey states that knee problems, shin splints and Achilles tendon problems are the 3 more common injuries that hamper attempts, 90% due to over training. Other causes are increasing milage too quickly, not taking rest days, or recovery from injury, and 40% due to using the wrong trainers.

It’s not too late to do something about this, seek advice from a specialised running shop about trainers and call us about any problems you are having.

Often neglected by runners are warm up, stretching and cooling down, you might be interested to know:

Warming up for running

The time to experiment with a new training routine is during training. Many sports use dynamic warm up in preparation for events. Dynamic warm up tends to follow a similar pattern of both general then sports specific movements:

Starting off with easy aerobic work i.e.) walking, striding, bounding, skipping and jogging at low intensity, followed by a progression to a higher intensity. Then, non sport specific full range “normal” movements of relevant muscles and joints i.e.) arm circles, leg swinging, body rotations, and lastly sports specific activities at higher intensity if required.

It has been shown that static stretching prior to activity has a negative influence on force and performance.

“Stretching” is used both for preparation of muscles prior to exercise i.e.) warm up as well as to improve mobility/flexibility in order to enhance performance. It is important to differentiate between the two in order to avoid injury.

Exercises to improve mobility should NOT be used as part of warming up. However to mainatin or improve muscle, joint or neural mobility as an integral part of an athlete’s general programme. Also after training, particularly at high intensity, athletes should stretch to return muscles to their normal resting length.

Although stretching is generally regarded as being beneficial, there are also risks with :

Using poor technique.

Allowing non-essential structures to become hyper mobile.

Having inadequate strength and control of new range of movement.

Stretching for length/mobility

Ideally all mobility regimes should be sport specific and encourage symmetry. The goal of maintaining joint mobility is important for long term effect on articular cartilage, and joint preservation.

To maintain muscle mobility, it is important to identify any key areas to focus on. The muscles that usually require the most attention are the ones that pull over more than one joint or have a multi action effect i.e.) quadriceps and hamstrings.

To affect length, there must be plastic deformation in the elastic component in the muscle, combined with relaxation of stretch reflexes. Therefore your technique must be of LOW force, LONG duration and performed at HIGH muscle temperature.

Practically, the following regimes have been suggested.

Perform stretches after training/competition or after a warm up/hot bath/shower.

4 reps per exercise.

45 seconds duration.

performed over time to maintain improvements. It may take several weeks to see an improvement.

Stretching programmes must be appropriate and balanced. It is important not to achieve increased range of movement in one area to compensate for a decrease in another.