Q:

Lauren,

What do you think is the most important part of rehab before you can run at full weight?  More specifically, what can I do to avoid injuries from minor muscle underdevelopment after a long-term injury?   Boom.

-David

A:

David-

After an injury that prevents weight bearing, the body gets stupid.  Especially the minor muscle groups.  Core strength, and muscle sequencing exercises are what you need to focus on.

The easiest fix is to go to a Pilates class or Bikram Yoga three times a week for a few weeks (individual or group). Get in at least 3 or 4 classes before you start running at full weight, (assuming the injured area is healed.)

On your first few runs, really try to implement the core awareness you learned doing your exercises, and don’t worry about how slow you run.

The only problem with these classes is that they take a lot more time than you actually NEED to accomplish the objective.  But many people don’t do well with “on-your-own” programs.  You have to chose what is best for you on that one cuz I don’t know your vibe.

If you can swing it financially, I’d get assessed by a PT to see what your weaknesses are and ask for some professional guidance on core and muscle sequencing specific to running.  The biggest mistakes athletes make when they go to a PT is they write off the mindless boring exercises or they get too focused on the number of reps.  The critical thing is HOW you do the exercise, not how many.  For example, I can “do planks” all day, but when I do them correctly, I can only hold for 10 seconds.  3x 10 seconds correctly is often enough.

-Lauren

Q:

Lauren,

After a long streak of feeling invincible, I got two stress fractures this year. I’m just starting to run again, and I want to do whatever I can to stay healthy. After your stress fracture, did you make any changes to your training?

-Lindsay in San Francisco

A:

-Lauren