Running or jogging to keep fit or competition may appear like a simple exercise, yet up to 50 % of all runners can get some type of injury each year. That injury may be minor and they run through the injury until it gets better or it can be serious enough for them to have to stop running. The most common cause of these running injuries is that they basically over did it. They ran too much before the body is given a chance to adapt or get used to the miles being run. Every time that a load is applied to the runner it is essential to give it a rest before you apply another load by going for another run. If too much load is applied before recuperation from a previous work out, any damage get amplified and this could progress into an injury. Rest is just as essential as the training runs and that is how fitness and strength is increased and is also how injury is avoided.
As well as the too much too soon situation, biomechanics also has a role. This is the way that we run and different runners do it in different ways. Different running techniques will affect different tissues in a different way and affect some tissues too much, so that when running that could be enough to result in an overuse injury. For example, injuries such as medial tibial stress syndrome (shin splints) can occur when the width between the foot placement when running is too narrow. Those with this condition can benefit from running with a wider base of gait. Another common biomechanical problem in runners can be tight calf muscles. When running this makes the mid-foot ( arch ) of the foot to collapse or flatten and may result in a numerous conditions such as heel pain to runners knee. These people may benefit the most from a calf muscle stretching program. The management of running injury depends on the cause and really should be geared towards the cause, whether its biomechanics to training load problems.