Wave goodbye to winter and those 100 days that for some, we become super sedentary!
Not so ideal circumstances – in the exercise department and so, we have a tip!
Ease in.
When we ease into our exercise and give the body time to become accustomed (adapt) to what we are asking of it injuries can STAY AWAY.
John* had been out for a few runs after a few months off and found he was trying to do the same distance he was doing back in Feb. John is used to running 5kms, several times a week, at a strong pace and was quick. Now, five months later with time off, his sciatica is back with vengeance within a week of running. John was frustrated as he knows he used to run this distance and at a quicker pace with no issues before.
We had a chat about his running and found that John went straight back into it.
Do you struggle with the same thing and battle with mind ready vs body ready!
Yes, the mind wants you to get back into it, but more importantly, we need to understand where our body is CURRENTLY at. When we run, our body (muscles, bones, discs, tendons and ligaments) is putting up with forces 5-7 times our body weight.
With any substantial period of time off from running, the body will have lost fitness, strength and power. Coming back into exercising, we need to ease into it gradually, so that the body has time to adapt, otherwise, we become susceptible to injury or in John’s case – sciatica.
For John, we looked at modifying his run to just 2 km with a 3km walk – as he really wanted to keep with the 5kms. John is using this approach for at least 2 weeks and then slowly he will add 500- 1km onto his run for another 2 weeks and repeat until he gets to the 5kms. This is giving John’s body time to adapt and better cope with the stresses when running. John could then look at either adding more distance or working on his speed.
If you’re a bit like John and trying to exercise just like you used to after a period of time off and things are playing up we can help and get you going in the right direction.
Anj x
*Please seek professional guidance from us on your individual circumstances.