Injury Prevention Tips for Summer: Runners Edition
With the warmth of summer upon us, many are eager to enjoy the weather and take our workouts and our runs outside. Running has numerous benefits for your overall health—from boosting mood and maintaining a healthy weight to strengthening your bones, reducing risk of cancer, and adding years to your life. However, it is important to approach your summer runs with care to prevent injury and safely run in the heat.
10 injury prevention tips for safe summer running:
1. Warm-up prior to your run. Engage in a brisk walk or running drills. Warming up reduces your risk of injury and helps you run with better form by activating your muscles and increasing your joints’ range of motion.
2. Complete strengthening, jumping, and mobility exercises to strengthen your muscles, ligaments, and tendons. This protects your muscles against impact when running, improves your form, and can help you achieve a consistent gait. Strengthening your glutes and core helps steady your pelvis and leg. When muscles aren’t strong enough, they can become overworked and lead to injury. Jumping exercises increase your elasticity and teach you how to minimize impact on landing. Mobility exercises help release knotted muscles post-workout and allow the muscles to contract and lengthen properly.
3. Improve your form through good posture and proper stride. Good running posture involves a straight upper torso with the head directly over the shoulders. Poor posture while running places stress on your back and knees. Arching your back to relieve the stress can shift your body weight to your back and cause you to over-stride, which is when the foot lands ahead of the knee. Over-striding contributes to injury. Swing your arms front to back rather than across the body. Swinging your arms across the body can rotate your shoulders and compromise your core stability.
4. Run early in the morning or late in the evening when the temperatures are coolest. Don’t run outside if the heat is above 98.6 degrees or humidity is above 70 to 80%. Your body temperature is regulated, when running, by sweat evaporating off the skin. If the humidity is too high, it can prevent the body’s process of evaporating sweat as you run and cause overheating.
5. Run in the grass in the shade instead of on asphalt as asphalt retains heat and radiates the heat upward. Running near water, such as a river or lake, can also create cooler, breezier conditions and help you keep your temperature regulated.
6. Stay hydrated! Hydrate before running and drink water and electrolyte-infused drinks during and after your run to help speed your post-run recovery.
7. Be sure to acclimate to running in warmer weather to allow your body to ease into running in the heat. Start with shorter, slower runs as your body gets used to the heat. As your body acclimates, you can build up to longer, faster runs.
8. Incorporate walking intervals between running sets to cool down and keep your body temperature in check. When you do run, you can run with better quality due to less fatigue from the heat and reduce your risk of heat stress.
9. If you are running outdoors and become dizzy, nauseated, experience chills, or stop sweating, stop, find shade, rest, and drink fluids.
10. If you plan to wear a hat during your run, use a visor or a hat with a roomier lid and breathable mesh so that your body can release heat. A thick fabric hat traps the heat your body releases from the head. Be sure to wear light-colored, loose-fitting clothes as well.
Enjoy the summer weather and longer days safely by following these ten tips when running outside!
