Today on the Doc On The Run podcast, we’re talking about how running injury testing is as simple as 1 2 3.
Today on the Doc On The Run podcast, we’re talking about how running injury testing is as simple as 1 2 3.
As an injured runner who wanted to run the worst piece of advice of I ever received from a doctor, was, “Go run and see how you feel.”
Sometimes, we as doctors take what we think will work for most people and and we apply it to everyone, including runners. When somebody’s recovering from surgery and they are the first or walking, what do you think we do?
We tell them to walk. We tell them to try it out just a little bit. Take off your boot. Walk around your house. If that feels okay, maybe go to the grocery store. Just try to walk and see how it feels. If it feels okay then walk some more.
But walking is not running. We never tell you to go out and run 100 feet and see how it feels. Instead, we expect you to do the impossible.
We want you to go out and try to run and see how it feels.
But for an injured runner who hasn’t been running, it feels pretty awesome to just get out and start running again. Within a short period of time you have endorphins flooding your system which will disguise any discomfort.
That discomfort is what you’re supposed to be feeling. But you’re not going to feel that discomfort because you’re just too happy just to be running.
What I think works best is to actually have a 1-2-3 running injury testing approach.
Basically, here’s how it works:
Step 1: Check Your Readiness.
Of the things I often lecture about and teach to physicians at medical conferences one of those is about recurrent running injuries. We know that just being injured one time actually puts you at a significantly increased risk of developing another overtraining injury from running later.
The first step is to check your readiness. Believe it or not there are some simple exercises you can do at home in your living room or your garage that actually give you a pretty good indication of whether or not you are at risk a developing another injury.
If you check yourself and do a little self evaluation you can be more confident you won’t hurt yourself and have a setback.
I will be showing exactly your can do these 3 tests at home, what they mean, what to do when you are having trouble with one of them. I will be walking you through them and demonstrating during the upcoming Runners Rapid Recovery Summit.
You really need to understand how to check your readiness with the 3 key tests to check for risk of recurrence…before you do your first run.
Step 2: Go for a Test Run.
Once you have done some simple self-evaluations to make sure you’re not really at higher risk of getting another injury just because you’re going out for a short test run, then it is time to try something.
It’s time to go out and do your first test run.…and yes there is a wrong and a right way to go for your first run. Be methodical. Remember, this is only a test!
You have to remind yourself before you head out the door that your first run is not to help you build fitness. It’s not time to get your aerobic fitness back. It’s just time to test some things. I have done other podcasts explaining exactly how to do the test run so you can go check that out. You can also watch a video on the Doc On The Run YouTube channel that shows you exactly how to execute your first test run.
Step 3: Document and Track the Result.
Seeing how you feel when you run is not documenting!
The biggest mistake runners make when they’re getting back to running his lack of documentation. It’s still confuses me why runners are so eager to track their heart rate, perceived exertion, pace, power output and number of steps but will not keep track of your pain, discomfort, swelling and indicators of injury or improvement as you recover from a running injury.
So after you do your test run you need to be methodical about how you document your discomfort. This is another thing I’m going to be talking about in detail in a presentation during the Runners Rapid Recovery Summit.
The goal is to make sure that you understand what it feels like during your run, after your run, the evening after that first run and what it feels like the next morning when you wake up and start moving around. You need to document how it feels, what changed, and whether or not you have any indication of trouble. That is really what the test run is all about.
So in short the Running Injury Testing 1–2–3 method is really that simple.
See if you’re ready, go give it a try, and then reevaluate to see where you are with your running injury recovery. The more you understand how to do that process the safer it will be throughout your transition from recovery to full running.
We have put together something you won’t want to miss. Join us for the Runners Rapid Recovery Summit. Its a 2 day day online event where you are going to get to learn all the inside information from my favorite experts on running, injury and recovery.
Since you are listening to the podcast, your’e getting the very first opportunity to register…for FREE. You can join me and an incredible line-up of world-class expert who are going to teach you everything you ever wanted to know about running injury treatment, prevention and the mindsets that either get you stuck in a series of chronic recurring injuries…or lead to rapid recovery and a return to running free of injury.
We also have a bunch of awesome free product give-away, and if you register, you’ll be automatically entered to win cool free stuff just for runners.
It’s a 2-day online event..its coming up, registration is open right now…and its completely free, but seating is limited to our hosting capacity. So go register, grab your seat, share the link with one of your running buddies… and I’ll see you there.
