🏃♂️ We Know Nothing About Injuries
Good morning!
This week: We know nothing about injuries, an amazing runner mom, and pre-workouts.
The Olympics are just around the corner, and we couldn’t be more excited.
Happy running, 😁
INJURIES
We Know Nothing About Injuries
We are sorry to crush your hopes, but you will probably get injured no matter what you do.
According to this 2007 systemic review of more than 1,000 published reports on the incidence and associated potential risk factors of lower extremity running injuries in long-distance runners, it doesn’t matter what you do…
- You have a 20% to 80% chance of getting injured.
Their review included studies that tested strength, flexibility, running mechanics, and imbalances. The conclusion is that you can’t predict what factors increase or decrease the chances of injury.
In other words, and opposite to what most “experts” try to sell, there is no straightforward way to injury-proofing yourself by doing a few simple tests, identifying key weaknesses, and fixing them with targeted exercises or stretches.
If this solution existed, do you think professional runners would get injured? Some of them have huge teams of personal trainers and physiotherapists behind them; they measure and test everything, rest, eat healthy, strength, stretch, take naps, cold baths, etc…
…and they still get injured.
Injuries are part of running, and the sooner you make peace with it, you will be able to do something about it.
The silver lining. Running injuries usually build up slowly as a consequence of the “three toos”. Too much, too soon, too long.
We start to feel a little niggle and do nothing about it. A great way to minimize the chances of that niggle growing into an injury is to assess why it’s happening and take the proper actions about it.
Here is where a physiotherapist can help you assess and create an action plan so you can keep running.
AGELESS RUNNERS
Fifth Olympic Games – and first as a mom.
We love hearing stories about athletes that keep competing at an elite level decade after decade. When no matter the struggles, they keep going without paying attention to their age.
Allyson Felix, 35, one of the most decorated U.S. Olympic athletes ever, qualified last week for her fifth Olympic Games, and even more impressive, after becoming a mom two years ago.
“Man. It has been a fight to get here,” Felix said in an interview on NBC. “And one thing I know how to do is fight.”
Felix gave birth to her daughter, Camryn, via emergency C-section at 32 weeks in 2018. Camryn spent a month in a neonatal intensive care unit and Felix has spoken openly about the difficulties in her recovery and return to training.
Felix said Camryn has changed her perspective as an athlete and fueled her throughout Sunday’s race.
“I just wanted to really show her, no matter what, that you do things with character, integrity, and you don’t give up,” Felix said. “And to me, whether that was winning, losing, no matter the outcome, I wanted to stay consistent with that. Having her as motivation through these past couple of years has just given me a whole new drive.”
The G.O.A.T. Felix debuted at the Athens 2004 Olympic games, and her six Olympic gold medals are the most won by a female track and field athlete. She has nine total Olympic medals and 13 world championships.
If she has one podium, she will tie Carl Lewis’ record for the most Olympic medals by an American track and field athlete with a podium appearance.
PERFORMANCE
Do Pre-Workout Supplements Work on Runners
The short answer, YES!, according to this randomized trial from exercise scientists at Creighton University.
The long answer:
Scientists used a pre-workout called PerformElilte for their study and found out that it had an 84% chance of extending the endurance of NCAA Division 1 cross country runners.
The company did not fund the research, and the scientists report no conflicts of interest.
But don’t just go and buy PerformElite. The pre-workout contains a lot of ingredients, and some (like caffeine, taurine, beta-alanine, and beetroot) have been supported by previous research.
So far, there haven’t been studies that test each of the ingredients above individually, but the researchers think caffeine and beta-alanine are the most important ones.
Our experience. We’ve been using this pre-workout for years (which contains all of the above ingredients) and have to say that we can feel the difference the days we take it; running just feels easier.
But don’t take it every day; besides the possible health issues, your body can get used to it, and the effects you feel will be less. Use it at your own risk!
OTHER FAST NEWS
A very interesting view on the relationship between grief and running. It’s like a long run.
A running shoe from the future, the Brooks Aurora-BL. Watch the review here.
Book of the Week – Good to Go – What the Athlete in All of Us Can Learn from the Strange Science of Recovery
See you next week!
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