A beginner's guide to getting started and avoiding common injuries.

We’ve all been there. You’ve started running and as the distances build up, so do the aches and pains. You ignore them for a while, but they continue to get worse until anti-inflammatories are beside your morning coffee and toast, as your way of starting the day.

How many people start out looking to improve their lives, and find themselves faced with recurring injuries and pain?

Running is one of the best pastimes you can do for increasing cardiovascular health and fitness. It’s a hobby almost anyone can do - just get out there and start running. The problem is - when starting running - how do you optimise yourself and your body to make sure that in six months time you aren’t sitting in a doctor's office, faced with strains, sprains and tears?

A key thought.

Consider the human body like a big factory. We’ve got these intertwining muscle groups and ligaments that all work together to make us move. All the little parts work to do their part, and the factory runs smoothly. In a perfect world, we’ve warmed up properly and developed the correct amount of strength for each level descending from the glutes, all the way down to the feet. Our muscles are strong and move in ways that they are designed to do.

But what if this isn’t the case? Often people find parts of their body aren’t firing properly. A common issue is quad dominant movement - especially in new runners. We haven’t conditioned the hamstrings, the hip flexors, the other parts of the legs properly and so the quadriceps are taking the lion's share of the work. As a result, the quads become even more developed, the other major muscle groups don’t work as they should. Conditions start to arise and we have to take time off from our favourite sports, or perform in pain.

But this doesn’t need to be the end of running. Don’t accept pain and suboptimal biomechanics. Every part of the leg is designed to do their job, and under perfect conditions can be stable and strong even under extreme stress. What we’ve compiled here are a set of tips, tricks and exercises to make sure that you’re bulletproofing your body and staying at the highest possible vibration you can, with optimal biomechanics.

Back to the basics.

First things first. Diet and recovery are the biggest piece of the puzzle here. Making sure you’re getting between 7 and 9 hours of sleep, and getting the correct amount of calories and macros for your body and training schedule is paramount. Let your body recover. Rest days and proper eating are the foundation you build on. In the modern world the thought is that you need to constantly push your body. Redline every workout session. No pain, no gain. But that’s not true.

Slowly building up towards a goal ensures that you’re letting your body catch up to your willpower. Eat your greens, get your protein in, and program in a few days a week that you can dedicate just to recovery.  

There’s also no need to burn the barn down on your first few sessions. Especially if you’re starting out, take it a bit slower. Why run fifteen kilometres, only to end up so sore you can only run twice a month? We need to grease the groove. Develop running into a habit, and slowly increment larger and larger distances over time, rather than go as hard as possible right away. Don’t get too excited, slowly build your fitness and your skill in running over time. Focus on how you’re landing, your steps per minute, and your breathing rather than distances. This will mean that in the long run, you’re able to run longer per session, more frequently.


Get strong - the right way.

Strength training can address issues in the body. As you strengthen the muscles around the leg, imbalances can be adjusted, and fixed. Exercises like clam shells to address the IT band, banded bridges to help strengthen the glutes (the most underrated stabilisers in the human body), touchdown squats to work the knee and build leg strength, and single leg romanian deadlifts can help build stability under tension and help your legs run optimally.

The key with these exercises is to start slow. Emphasise the eccentric load (the negative portion of the load) on the muscle and find a good mind/muscle connection to ensure that you’re getting the most out of the exercise. Don’t go too heavy to start off with - find a comfortable weight and make the higher rep ranges your home.

Remember, you’re not trying to win the Olympics, you’re trying to balance out all the key muscles and stabilisers in the leg so that you can get the most out of your sport.

Once a baseline of strength has been developed - consider programming in some compound movements and patterns. Exercises like the squat and the deadlift help build up the posterior chain - the back muscles of the body. Building a strong and stable posterior chain reduces lower back pain - increasing strength and allowing the body to adjust to the strains of endurance running.

But don’t rush. You don’t need to be a hero, just slowly work muscles and stabilisers in combination with larger compound movements. We want sore muscles from working out - not sore joints from bad biomechanics.

Ask an expert.

Consider also visiting a physiotherapist or a personal trainer to find out exactly how to perform these movements. Resources are also available on the internet, with specific youtube channels and online physiotherapy courses for any and all afflictions. But pursuing these almost unlimited resources can be overwhelming for a beginner. There’s too much information.

Consider visiting a trained professional to get a baseline understanding
of your personal dysfunctions - and then work from there. If you’re looking to take your running seriously - getting a baseline of exercises to work on and a greater understanding of your own personal issues that you can later expand on later with your own research is very important. You develop a frame of reference for your own body, how to do exercises that your own personal knowledge can build on.

Stretch it out.

Mobility work is also highly important.
We can split this into three categories.

• Static stretching.
• Dynamic stretching.
• Supplementary mobility work.

People have a tendency towards static stretching - where the muscle is put into a still position where it’s being lengthened. However, modern physiotherapy and kinesiology has suggested that dynamic stretching could be even more important - especially during warmups.

Dynamic stretching is the concept of stretching out the muscle in small, controlled movement patterns. You’re helping to warm it up and keep all the little fibres inside healthy, happy and long. Skipping warm ups has been linked to injuries. Even five minutes of priming your hamstrings, ankles and posterior chain can have remarkable effects on your output.

After the run - static stretching can help to reduce pain - as the muscles are warmed up and primed for static elongation. Key areas to focus on during stretching routines are hips and ankles. Ankles can get very tight. They’re often injured, and can contribute to injuries in other areas like knees and hips. A tight ankle can contort the way that the leg moves, which runs up the chain of the body - causing imbalances. As we move, and we develop competence, keeping the muscles strong and long is incredibly important. Tight muscles in the hips can restrict movement and force other parts of the body to fire more - and some to fire less.

Concepts to consider.

Backwards walking and running is also an unconventional method towards helping pre and rehab injuries. Often for marathon runners, injuries can happen because of overworking dominant muscle groups. A growing number of athletes and coaches - most notably the “Knees Over Toes Guy” - have suggested that programming backwards movement patterns into training schedules can help to address issues relating to knee health - strengthening muscle groups that aren’t necessarily catered for in endurance running training. Keeping a balance of strong quadriceps, hamstrings and ankles is very important for longevity, and backwards movement and exercises can help. Sure, it’ll look strange, but would you rather be running backwards, or limping forwards?

Something to also keep in mind is how you’re running. If imbalances already exist, they can change the way that you run - your gait. Also consider monitoring your cadence - the number of steps per minute. Most marathon runners have a cadence of around 180 steps per minute - keeping the stride length short and the impact on the legs comparatively shorter. Dialling both of these concepts in and being aware of them can have an impact on injury prevention and develop better technique.

Good vibrations.

A great supplementary product for runners - whether they’re just starting out, or regularly running marathons is Myovolt. Offering a range of wearable focal vibration products - Myovolt has been clinically proven to increase recovery, range of motion and reduce pain in athletes - as well as being a fantastic tool in warming up the muscle before exercise.

Myovolt is the only hands free, portable vibration therapy device on the market, and a large variety of professional and amateur athletes are using it to increase recovery and reduce pain and mobility issues. It can target smaller muscle groups inside of the muscle, helping relax and stimulate blood flow in hard to reach areas. Once you’re in the swing of things, implementing a Myovolt device before a big run, or after, to help keep the DOMS (delayed onset muscle soreness) away can be a game changer - helping free you from pain and mobility issues.

In summary, here's our top tips to keep you primed and prepared for going the distance.

• Recovery.
• Diet.
• Slowly building up your running.
• Strength exercises.
• Stretching.
• Myovolt.

Enjoy your running journey and congratulations for taking steps towards a healthier, happier life.

Concepts to consider.

Backwards walking and running is also an unconventional method towards helping pre and rehab injuries. Often for marathon runners, injuries can happen because of overworking dominant muscle groups. A growing number of athletes and coaches - most notably the “Knees Over Toes Guy” - have suggested that programming backwards movement patterns into training schedules can help to address issues relating to knee health - strengthening muscle groups that aren’t necessarily catered for in endurance running training. Keeping a balance of strong quadriceps, hamstrings and ankles is very important for longevity, and backwards movement and exercises can help. Sure, it’ll look strange, but would you rather be running backwards, or limping forwards?

Something to also keep in mind is how you’re running. If imbalances already exist, they can change the way that you run - your gait. Also consider monitoring your cadence - the number of steps per minute. Most marathon runners have a cadence of around 180 steps per minute - keeping the stride length short and the impact on the legs comparatively shorter. Dialling both of these concepts in and being aware of them can have an impact on injury prevention and develop better technique.

Good vibrations.

A great supplementary product for runners - whether they’re just starting out, or regularly running marathons is Myovolt. Offering a range of wearable focal vibration products - Myovolt has been clinically proven to increase recovery, range of motion and reduce pain in athletes - as well as being a fantastic tool in warming up the muscle before exercise.

Myovolt is the only hands free, portable vibration therapy device on the market, and a large variety of professional and amateur athletes are using it to increase recovery and reduce pain and mobility issues. It can target smaller muscle groups inside of the muscle, helping relax and stimulate blood flow in hard to reach areas. Once you’re in the swing of things, implementing a Myovolt device before a big run, or after, to help keep the DOMS (delayed onset muscle soreness) away can be a game changer - helping free you from pain and mobility issues.

In summary here's our top tips to keep you primed and prepared for going the distance.

• Recovery.
• Diet.
• Slowly building up your running.
• Strength exercises.
• Stretching.
• Myovolt.

Enjoy your running journey and congratulations for taking steps towards a healthier, happier life.

Great for recovering tired, overworked knees, quad, calf or hamstring muscles. The neoprene leg brace has an adjustable fit ...