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Whether you are for or against running, its popularity is likely at an all time high.  People run to lose weight, stay fit, compete or simply escape from the stress of the world.  Unfortunately, running often brings injuries for its participants. 

So, what are the risk factors directly associated with injury?  Researches in the Netherlands recently performed a prospective study with 532 novice runners (306 females and 226 males).  The runners trained for a 4 mile event and were advised to run 3 times per week (Monday, Wednesday and Saturdays) at a comfortable pace.

They were randomized into 8 and 13 week training programs.  There was no difference in findings among the different training groups so they were counted as one for the puprose of the study results.  The results are interesting.  Risk factors for running related injuries (RRI) in males included:

  1. Higher BMI
  2. Previous injuries - those with previous injuries are 2.6 x more likely to suffer an injury
  3. Type of previous sports activities - those participating in axial loading sports were less likely to be injured than those who participated in non axial loading sports (cycling and swimming for instance)

Predictors of RRI in females were:

  1. Increased navicular drop - this in turn leads to increased pronation and femoral internal rotation thereby increasing the risk of developing medial tibial stress syndrome

Some hypothesize that limited joint mobility leads to injury with the repetitive nature of running as force is dissipated unevenly along the kinetic chain.  Interestingly enough, lack of range of motion in the ankle and hip were not found to be related to RRI in novice runners.  Type ‘A’ personality influence in terms of pain resistance was also ruled out as contributing to sustaining an injury in this study.

What are the takeaways here? 

  • The key thing to see is that males and females have different risk profiles. 
  • Males that carry more weight may be comparatively at a greater risk for injury than females. 
  • Pronation and proper foot mechanics may be a bigger issue in females as they are much more prone to develop stress fractures
  • Further research is needed to better predict female risk factors
  • There are several limitations in this study such as: inconsistent training days, different running surfaces, different running speeds/intensity and weather to name a few

In my mind, it also further illustrates the need to fully rehabilitate injuries, prepare the body for events thru smart progressive axial loading and to target the hips with strength and power work in runners to better control femoral internal rotation and reduce ground reaction forces.

For more info, read the full article in the February 2010 edition of the American Journal of Sports Medicine.  Stay tuned this week, as I will review another running research article discussing the impact of slope (hill) running on the body.