Safely getting back to running after injury — 7 essential tips

1 - Don't be fooled by heartrate and fatigue

If you've been keeping fit by cross-training, you may find that running now feels easy, and you're barely out of breath by the end of the short test runs you're doing.

Under normal circumstances, when you're just training for fitness as opposed to coming back from injury, this would mean that you can safely increase your training distance and intensity by quite a lot.

The problem is that your heart rate and the effort you feel when doing a run only tell you that your cardiovascular system is nice and fit. It doesn't tell you much about the strength or endurance of your newly recovered injury. So, you must put other measures in place to ensure you don't overwhelm it.

Running stats don't reflect how strong your injury is or how well it is coping with your current training load.

2 - Think of running as "strength training"

When we run, forces equal to between 6 and 8 times our body weight go through our legs. So, adding running into your training week is a big step up from just doing rehab exercises and cross-training activities.

This is why, if your running speed, distance, or how often you run is increased too dramatically, it can cause your injury to flare up.

Easing safely back into running is not an exact science, but we'll share some general rules below.

3 - Use a run-walk plan

The safest way to test your injury's running tolerance and build to continuous running is by using a walk-run program.

Alternating between short running intervals and recovery walks allows you to build up your running endurance safely.

Check out the walk-run plan in the Exakt Health app if you want to see how this works.

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Postpone high-intensity runs until you've restored your easy run endurance.

4 - Restore easy running endurance first

The faster you run or the more intense the training session (e.g., running hills), the harder your body has to work and the quicker you fatigue — newly recovered injuries usually don't like this.

This is why it works best to avoid high-intensity training sessions until you've fully restored your easy running strength and endurance.

A solid easy-run base ensures your injury has the strength it needs to transition safely to more intense running sessions.

You know you're running at the correct pace if:

• You can speak full sentences without getting out of breath, or
• Your heart rate remains in Zones 2-3 or between 60% to 80% of your maximum.

The Advanced Injury Comeback running plan in the Exakt Health app is designed to help you safely rebuild your easy running endurance. This plan incorporates all the key principles from this article.

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5 - Allow enough recovery time between runs

Newly recovered injuries tend to take longer to recover from training sessions. Leaving at least 48 hours between runs (e.g., running every second day or max 3 times a week) works well for most people.

If you're unsure, err on the side of caution and start with only 2 sessions, at least 72 hours apart.

6 - Avoid sudden increases in distance

We know, compared to your pre-injury running fitness, running for 30 or even 40 minutes seems like nothing. But if you've not been running much in the last 4 to 6 weeks or had a significant injury, then diving into a 30-minute run is actually a considerable increase in workload for your newly recovered body.

Research has shown that runners can usually safely increase their running distance by 10% and 20% per week but increase their risk of injury if they do it more quickly.

Slowly build your running sessions to resemble your regular pre-injury, easy-running sessions. Suppose you would typically run for 40 minutes. In that case, you must slowly increase what you do in these sessions until you can consistently and comfortably run for 40 minutes at your regular easy run pace without experiencing any increase in symptoms.

It is usually OK to start adding more running sessions, building your long run, or increasing your speed when you reach this point.

7 - Schedule recovery weeks

Scheduling a recovery or deload week every 3 or 4 weeks can help prevent overuse injuries. The idea is not to rest completely but to just bring your training intensity and volume down a notch (about 20% to 30%).

Why? It's not always possible to get your recovery perfect week-on-week — a recovery week can help your body catch up on repairs.

Getting back to running after an injury requires patience and careful planning, but with the right approach, you can get back to doing what you love while minimizing the risk of reinjury. For more tips on running injury prevention and recovery, explore our other articles. And if you're looking for tailored mobility and strength workouts to help you run injury-free, download the Exakt Health app today.

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