One of my worst nightmares as a runner is something happening to my legs and then not being able to run. And unfortunately some of us get injured every now-and-then to that point where we can’t run. But what does it take to remain injury free.

Well you can take it from me as I’ve at times remained injury free to significant amounts of time but on the other hand have had my share of running injuries. So here is what I’ve found works for me.

Isolating the area of your more common injuries and doing routine stretching of that area. I’ve found if I stretch out that specific area of my body I tend to be less likely to have an injury there. Although I’m not one that’s usually a guy who stretches. In fact I normally don’t stretch at all before or after a run. But I’ve found that if I only stretch that one area of my body after I run this does help prevent further injury.

Exercises for that common injured area. Another thing I’ve seen work is doing exercises to strengthen the areas you commonly have injured.  For example if your common injury is a calf muscle, you could do X amount of calf raises each day steadily working on making that area of your body stronger.

Vitamins, yes this does help quite a bit. I’ve noticed that vitamins do really help keep you injury free and to recover much faster than normal. The vitamins I take which really help me are things like calcium and magnesium. These are 2 nutrients that the muscles in the body actually use to make your muscles move. So you can guess what happens if you are lacking these. Now of course a word of disclaimer here. I’m not a doctor so you should consult your doctor before taking anything. And I have found to be true that every one needs somewhat different vitamins depending on their body’s needs. So I’d suggest going to a natural nutritionist or chiropractor as that’s what I’ve done and it’s really helped me.

Chiropractic adjustments for prevention recovery. I’ve been getting chiropractic adjustments since I was a little kid and I’ve hardly had any sicknesses growing up. And I’ve found it really helps with running. I mean think about it… if your body is out of alignment your running gate is going to be off (even just a little bit can cause major problems) and that being off is going to cause more stress to be placed on one muscle or area of your body thus weakening it and making you more susceptible to injury.

Using the proper shoes. Now this is something most dedicated runners are aware of so I’m not going to go into it too much. But what you want to do is make sure the shoes you have are the correct shoes for your foot and gate type.

Lastly don’t over do it. If you feel like you’re starting to get injured then simply take the day off or run less or not as hard. I’ve found this is an excellent way to prevent one self from being coming injured. If you can spot the fact your feeling a weakness in an area or muscle of your body then don’t put as much stress on it till it feels better. I know it’s not always what your running log says (to take a day off) but that’s better than having to take weeks off for an injury.

Well there you have it, these are just some of my personal tips on staying injury free. Do you have any tips?