Preventing Running Injuries
by Bronwen de Klerk

Not all running injuries can be prevented, but the severity of an injury can at least be reduced with proper strengthening and stretching routines. Following are some common running injuries and techniques you could use to try and minimise your susceptibility to them:

Ankle Injury
A common ankle injury is a sprain of the ligaments on the outside of the ankle joint. Strengthening the muscles on the outside of the lower leg, the peroneal muscles, may prevent this. These lie between the calf muscles and the shin muscles. Following is a simple exercise for strengthening these muscles: Sitting on a chair, place a towel under your right foot. Take the one end of the towel in your left hand and pull it towards your left side. Resist this pulling motion with your right leg by tensing your peroneal muscles. Do this about 8 times then repeat on the other side.

Knee Ligament Injuries
The knee is a very unstable joint and depends on muscular strength for its dynamic support. The strength of the muscles at the back of the thighs and the front of the thighs need to be balanced (the hamstrings and the quadriceps respectively). The hamstrings should be 60% to 70% of the strength of the quadriceps. Some good exercises for strengthening the quadriceps are lunges and squats, hip extensions are good for strengthening the hamstrings (see Balanced Betty above). If you experience pain in your knee joint when running, this could also be due to tight hamstrings and calves. The tightness in these two muscles puts extra strain on the quadricep muscles and thus the knee joint. Ensure that you stretch out your hamstrings and calves every day and especially after you run.
Calf stretch:
Stand with your hands flat on a wall at shoulder level. Step your one leg back, keeping it straight, and bend your front leg. Push into the heel of your back leg and hold for 20 seconds - feel the stretch in your calf. Now bend the knee of the back leg and hold for 20 seconds - feel the stretch in your Achilles tendon. Repeat on the other leg.

Shin Splints
This is the term often used to describe any pain in the front of the lower leg. This may be the result of decreased flexibility of the Achilles tendon and calf muscles or decreased strength of the shin muscles. Once again, spend some time every day stretching out your calf muscles. To strengthen your shin muscles, raise your one leg and point and flex your toes. Do this until you feel it in your shins. Repeat the same number of times on the other side.