Train for your next run with physical therapy

Running-related injuries can make your daily routine harder. These injuries make it difficult not only to run but to walk, stand, or even move your leg or injured joints. Many of these injuries can be avoided by running training from a physical therapist.

Many people think of physical therapy regarding injury recovery, but it can be used for injury prevention as well. An injury is unpredictable and may occur no matter what you do to try to prevent it, but you may reduce your chances of injury with running training from a physical therapist.

If you have a specific medical condition or history of injury or simply want professional advice before running, a physical therapist can help you develop a custom training plan.

Useful running training exercises to help prevent injury

A custom plan is best for determining a personal training plan for running. However, most people can benefit from the following exercises:

• Hip flexor stretch — Tight hips prevent full leg extension when running. To stretch your                    hip flexor muscles, take a kneeling position and step your right leg out in front of you. Your right leg will be bent, and you may need to wiggle your right foot farther away from you to get a good stretch. Now move your hips forward, making sure that your right knee doesn’t go past your right toes. Hold this for about 30 seconds and then switch legs.

• Calf and quad rolls — Using a foam roller on your calves and the front of your thighs helps improve your circulation. This is beneficial before and after your run for warming up and cooling down your muscles.

• Squats — Squatting helps strengthen the variety of muscles that you use for running. You may squat with the weight of some light dumbbells, but you can also get results using only your body weight. You don’t need to do squats every day of the week. Three times a week for a few sessions of 10 to 20 squats should help strengthen your legs.

• Lunges — As with squats, you don’t need to do lunges every day. Three sets of 10 lunges for each leg two to three times a week should help you strengthen leg muscles and ligaments, especially those surrounding your knees. Try doing side lunges as well to exercise parts of your muscles that may be ignored in standard forward lunges.

Developing a personal plan for running training

If you’d like to start training for running with the help of a physical therapist, contact our team at Advent Physical Therapy for an appointment. We’re dedicated to helping your body perform at its peak. Our therapists will begin by performing a free screening designed to reveal issues that could cause running injuries. Then, we’ll build you an individualized therapy plan intended to address these issues and reduce your injury risk. 

Can’t make it into one of our therapy clinics? Don’t worry! Our team offers physical therapy you can do from home, including virtual care and at-home therapy sessions. We can even get you started with your therapy plan if you don’t have a doctor’s referral. 

Take the next step to get our help running more effectively and safely. Contact our team today for more information about our therapy services or to schedule an initial appointment.