AOL SPORT,20TH APRIL 2007
It is vital to warm up properly before taking on any run let alone a marathon. AOL Sport shows you how.
1. Drink water to hydrate your muscles so they'll respond well to your warm-up.
2. Begin slowly by performing the exercise at a low level of intensity, thus warming up your body core and the individual muscles.
3. Stretch the muscles after they are warm.
4. Gradually increase your level of exercise and the intensity of your stretches.
Tips & Warnings
Walk first, then jog, then run.
If you're running hills, start with an easy slope and work into the steeper grades. Make sure to warm up your whole body, not just one specific muscle group.
Making an explosive exercise movement without warming up properly can cause serious injury.
Simon Moyes, one of the UK's leading arthroscopic (key-hole) surgeons who deals with many athletic related injuries, warns of the dangers of poor preparation.
Have you seen a few nasty results of people not being prepared?
Yeah indeed all of us all orthopaedic surgeons and physios and GPs we all see a lot over use injuries building up to the marathon.
What's the most common thing you have to deal with?
I would say the most common thing is over-use injuries, like stress fractures in the fore foot. People can get a lot of terrible heel pain. They get an awful lot of things called shin splints which is a really a sever pain which tends to come on just above the ankle on the inside.
Are these all injuries that are preventable?
I think to a large degree they are preventable certainly if you do all the things you are supposed to do, these are things that I never got round to doing but if you start 6 months early and you follow one of the correct training programmes build up nice and slowly by about 5 to 10% a week make sure you've got all the correct shoes, do lots of stretching and I think then you can then avoid the overwhelming majority of injuries you get, yes.
Do people pick the wrong shoes?
I certainly think that people pick the wrong shoes and I think a lot of shoe shops out there for example, runners world, a lot of my patients rave about them, they will actually look at you running and will reflect the right type of shoe for you and I think that's very helpful or indeed if you've got a tame or friendly physiotherapist that has looked after you in the past far often they can provide that kind of service as well.
Have any of the injuries been so bad that they can't run again?
Not so much can't run again but sadly a lot of them have to stop their training and rest for a few months until they can re start running. I mean I've have had two or three for example who have come round and they are going to miss this particular marathon and that's mainly due to stress fractures.
You must be concerned that people are going to be affected by the weather and push themselves to much?
Well I think that's right I was out cycling myself only last weekend and was astonished how hot it was I think its really quite a worry but the advantage of the marathon its so well organised and there's so much there in the way of resources and I think people running particularly the fun runners they've got to be very careful about making sure they're properly hydrated.
So how do sports stars and enthusiasts prevent injuries and what happens if runners fall victim to an injury?
It's simple. Take a lot of care when warming up! You need a full routine of stretches and exercises before you start engaging in sports. Aside from being extremely painful, an injuries like damage to an Achilles tendon can be very serious if not treated directly. It can prevent the sufferer from enjoying previous levels of activeness. The key to a full recovery is seeing a consultant speedily after the injury takes place.
