While training for your first half-marathon, you develop a sharp pain in your shin that worsens with every step you take. The pain is so bad that it forces you to stop running. A new study in the British Journal of Sports Medicine suggests that running injuries do not occur gradually, as has been assumed for years, but occur because of mistakes made during a single training session. The study followed 5,205 runners from 87 countries over 18 months and shows that injury risk increases exponentially when runners increase their distance in a single training session compared to their longest run in the past 30 days. The longer the run becomes, the higher the injury risk. The study is challenging an algorithm used since 2016 called Acute: Chronic Workload Ratio (ACWR), which has been used by many equipment companies to evaluate runners as well as therapists and physicians. The ACWR algorithm calculates the ratio between acute load (last week’s training) and chronic load (average of the past 3 weeks). The algorithm recommends a maximum 20% increase in training load to minimize injury risk. The research team is working on a new algorithm to help reduce injuries that will be universally used. The problem with one-size-fits-all algorithms In a perfect world, we can take everyone, no matter how they are built, including small, tall, flat-footed, high arched, and asymmetrical, and assume that this will reduce injuries. As we all adapt to who we are and learn to walk and run differently, using electronics to help us worry about ground impact, the source of running injuries is self-limiting by its nature. Since we are all different, and we may all have good and bad running habits, I agree that reducing ground impact if reduced will reduce injuries. The problem is how, and the idea that most injuries are acute, only does not fit if we are to understand that how we run affects ground impact. One of the most common injuries from overtraining or ramping up mileage or speed too fast is stress fractures, which occur suddenly. What we have learned is that before the fracture, soreness and achiness are caused by inflammation in the bone marrow referred to as a stress reaction. The stress reaction may alone stop you from running, but continued impact will result in a stress fracture. Considering this inconvenient fact, these types of injuries are gradual with an acute onset, and they may appear to come on suddenly; however, it is caused by repeated impact over a time period. This would make the injury gradual vs. suddenly occurring during a training run. To make this type of broad statement as they do within their context of understanding, while trying to use algorithms to reduce injury, any algorithm will likely fail without an understanding of the runner first. This comes from years of experience with elite-level runners. Read more below. Running injuries often strike suddenly, not gradually: Study challenges understanding of overuse injuries Preventing running injuries by understanding the runner is more effective because We understand the runner vs. a one-size-fits-all algorithm. We corrected running faults through video analysis and a plan to improve running style. Our office conducts treadmill evaluations with video and plans of action to improve running form. We use foot orthotics and other methods to level the hips, which improve core function and movement patterns. We use methods such as myofascial release treatment, manipulation of the extremities, and corrective exercises to improve movement patterns, running postures, and running efficiency, which improves both speed and ground impact. Sports chiropractors who understand running and runners are your best one-stop solution for all of this. If you are experiencing running injuries and need help, our office specializes in runners and running injuries. Most doctors will diagnose a running injury. Few diagnose the mechanisms and offer help to improve ground impact and running efficiencies. We can help using Treadmill evaluation Corrective plans of action for bad running habits, including methods you can perform at home on a treadmill. Corrective exercises to strengthen and improve running form and posture. Chiropractic manipulation and myofascial release to help improve movement, efficiency, and function that reduce ground impact and improve how you run. Need help today? Book online now.