Part of the attraction of running is that it’s easy to start out. You just pull on your shoes and go. However, starting to run or returning to it after a long period of injury or inactivity should be done with care. My clinic is filled with runners who made it out the door only to be struck with injury just as they were getting going. This is hugely dispiriting and often leads to them giving up.
The main reason is that we all want to be running fast and far straight away, just like we used to. But with months or years of not running regularly, or at all, our bodies become de-conditioned.
You need to prepare the body to cope with the forces you are applying to it. That way, you have a better chance of being successful.
You’ll feel the muscles first. The calf and shin muscles, as well as the quads (thighs), hamstrings (back of thighs) and glutes (buttocks) will all be stimulated. They will ache for the first few weeks. This is called ‘Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness’ (DOMS) and is due to micro trauma in the muscle tissues. This overload will make the muscles stronger. The trick is to load sufficiently to stimulate ‘hypertrophy’ (strengthening) but not overload and create a bigger trauma – a proper strain.
Aches and tightness are OK, but your muscles need 24 hours to recover and strengthen, which is why sensible beginner-runner plans employ an alternate or every-third-day frequency. Sharper muscle pain in a muscle suggests you have overdone it and recovery will take longer – a minimum of four days of not running, but you can swim or cycle if it is pain-free.
When starting or coming back to running, most people occasionally overdo it and need a short recovery spell. Provided you recognise it early and don’t push a little strain into a big strain, it’s just part of the process.
There are lots of things you can do to improve the strength of the primary running muscles. If you consistently get specific tightness in a particular muscle, your body is telling you it is not strong enough to cope. Reduce the running while you strengthen, or repeated overloading will inevitably result in injury.
Try the following moves to strengthen the key running muscles. To start with, run one day, exercise the next, then have a recovery day. Listen to your body and recover between sessions.
Calves
Weakness in the calves is the most common problem I see in a new/returning runner, much more than calf-flexibility issues.
1.Step calf raises with knee drive
Basic calf-strength requirements are 3 × 25 heel rises off a step. The key is to work the whole range of movement. Start with the toes of one foot on the edge. Then drive up through the ankle and straighten your standing leg at the top, while driving the raised knee in front. Once you have reached this basic level of strength, continue to build with the addition of weight – start with 5kg and build towards 20kg in a bag on your back, keeping your hands free for balance.
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These absorb impact and this ‘eccentric’ type of loading causes a lot of muscle soreness. Eccentric is where you contract a muscle but lengthen it at the same time.
2. Single-leg squat with drive
Stand with your back foot up on a chair. Your front knee should stay over the top of your foot while you slowly drop down towards a front-knee bend of around 90 degrees, but no more, before driving back up to a straight leg. Do 3 × 20 reps using the front leg for power.
3. Deep forward lunge and back
Stand on both feet on tiptoes. Next, bring your knee up high and step far forward, moving into a deep lunge, leading with the toe. Continuing the movement, push back with the front foot to return to the start position. Alternate legs for 30 dynamic driving reps.
4. T-lunge to high knee drive
This works the calves, thighs and glutes. Begin standing on one leg, with the knee of that leg slightly bent and the other leg nearly horizontal out behind you. Work your core for balance and, to begin with, hold/touch a wall or chair/bench to the side for balance. Rapidly bring the back leg forward up to a high-knee position and drive up to your tiptoes then return to the start position. Do four sets of eight reps. Alternate legs.
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Photography: Tom Watkins
