We’ve just wrapped up our 4th Run Long, Run Strong forum here at CSSM with all participants loving the opportunity to pick the brain of one of Australia’s most iconic long distance runners, Steve Moneghetti. A key focus of the evening was how important load management is to managing your running program, and how to prevent injury.

Steve’s a big believer in setting yourself a goal and working towards it, and we could not agree more. Signing yourself up for a running challenge can be daunting, but extremely rewarding if it’s done in the correct manor. Loading up gradually is extremely important, and it’s the number one mistake runners make when commencing a training program. Trying too much, too quickly can often lead to the body breaking down and the onset of injury becoming a reality.

From a planning approach, when training load exceeds load capacity is the moment where we are at risk of developing a load induced injury. Our load capacity will increase and improve with our training program, but researching and implementing other training modalities will improve our running performance.

Through the use of supplementary training you can continue to build not only your cardiovascular fitness but your muscular strength, endurance and power if you utilise the correct formats. Activities such as swimming, deep water running, weights training and Pilates are all great ways of improving your base level of fitness and reducing your chance of load induced injury!

We also spoke on the importance of recovery and allowing time for the body to rejuvenate from training load. From a biological level, allowing time for adaptation to occur is important for good muscular development. Not allowing a rest day in a full training week could allow for an overload on the tissues, and prevent muscles developing to their optimal level.

After another great forum we are already looking towards the next opportunity to help our #teamCSSM runners, so if you have any ideas from who you’d like to hear from in the future, let us know!

About the author.

James Unkles is a Podiatrist who has also completed his Bachelor degree in Exercise and Sport Science, and loves running every week! He can provide expert assistance with managing your running program, gait analysis or explain how the lower limb reacts to aerobic or anaerobic training.

References

Konopka, A. R., & Harber, M. P. (2014). Skeletal Muscle Hypertrophy after Aerobic Exercise Training. Exercise and Sport Sciences Reviews, 42(2), 53–61. http://doi.org/10.1249/JES.0000000000000007