Running is a great way to stay healthy and active. It's low cost, requires minimal equipment and you can go for a run pretty much anywhere. It's also great for your mental health, giving you time to process your thoughts and you can't beat that "runners' high" after a good run.
Like most sports however, it does come with some risk of injury. It is important to listen to how your body feels before, during and after a run and support any pains or weaknesses with the right exercise or treatment.
We asked our team at Oriam Clinic about the benefits of regular physiotherapy and training for runners' recovery, maintenance and improvement.
Whether your a competitive sprinter, training for the next Edinburgh Marathon or working towards your first 5k at your local Parkrun, regular gym-based training and the following physiotherapy tips can help you perform at your best and enjoy the sport for as long as possible.
Injury Rehab
One of the key factors for any injury rehab is time, it does take time to properly heal and re-train the body after an injury, no matter what rehab plan you choose. It can be frustrating, but patience is key. Trust the process, following a thorough rehab plan does have many great long-term benefits; helping you return to full performance and reducing the risk of re-injury or more permanent damage.
Working with a physiotherapist at Oriam Clinic can help you return to running with confidence through injury assessment and diagnosis, 1-1 gym sessions, group rehab sessions and tailored return to running plans. They can create a programme of training and treatments to support your injury rehabilitation and will discuss training load and graded progressions. The programme not only supports your physical strength, balance and mobility, but can also help keep you engaged and minimise training fatigue whilst you go through the rehab process.
Maintenance
Regular strength training combined with clinic services like physiotherapy, massage and chiropody can really benefit the longevity of your running performance, by reducing the risk of injury, keeping you fresh and reducing repetitive strain.
Our bodies are great at adapting around weakness or pain, often relying on other muscle groups to take up the slack for the weaker areas. Over time, this can create an imbalance in your strength and mobility, and potentially result in a running injury. In our injury prevention sessions, your therapist will identify any weaknesses and deliver a strategy to address these and improve your strength, balance and mobility.
Improvement
Have you been running for a while but found you've plateaued on your timing or distance? Physiotherapy, massage, and podiatry can all help you unlock that extra level of performance in your training. A Physiotherapy or Podiatry session can help you better understand the biomechanics of your body, identifying your strengths and weaknesses.
Once you and the team identify an area for improvement, physiotherapists can work with you to create a program that will help re-engage and re-balance to find that extra edge in your running performance. If you are training for a particularly tough challenge, hydrotherapy and massage can also help improve your recovery after a tough training session or a big run so you are feeling fresh, ready to go again.
Oriam Clinic has affordable physio-led, injury prevention group sessions in the strength and conditioning suite and offer hydrotherapy recovery sessions twice weekly.