New to Running? 4 Tips for Avoiding Injury

You’ve got your brand new pair of running shoes and an energetic playlist on Spotify. The course is all mapped out, and you couldn’t be more excited to start your new running routine.

While excitement is a necessary ingredient to fall in love with running, it’s also important to remember that running can put your body through a lot of stress. If you push yourself too far, or don't properly prepare, running can easily result in injury.

If you're new to running (or even if you're not but need a refresher), these four tips will help you prevent injuries so you can keep up with your plans to get in shape. 

Connect With Your Inner Zen

While running strengthens muscle and vastly improves cardiovascular function, it also has a tendency to tighten the hips, IT band, and the arches of your feet. Spending a few minutes on the yoga mat after each run is proven to help decrease injury. 

Stay Hydrated

Not only is hydration important for basic bodily function, it’s crucial to resupply the body with water after an hour or two of intense activity. Consuming too little water can result in dizziness and sub-par performance.

Cross-Train

Too much of a good thing can turn into a bad thing. This is why sports doctors often advise their athletes to participate in cross-training. By strengthening muscles that running doesn't target, your overall strength increases, and you're less likely to hurt yourself.

So bust out the bicycle, kayak, or hit the weights at the gym. Cross-training is a great way to keep your body and your mind engaged with exercise. By mixing it up, you'll look forward to your runs even more. 

Pace Yourself

It's not always easy when you're pumped, but it's important to start slow. Going from 0-60 on a training plan is a recipe for disaster, pain, and a long road to recovery. So take your time, and enjoy the miles ahead of you.

Along with these four injury reducing methods, Lily Trotter compression socks help improve circulation, and can even help prevent and reduce inflammation from shin splints. They’re essential in every new runner's tool kit, so you can spend less time injured and more time loving your runs.