Study: Runners often get injuries from sudden longer runs

The most common cause of a running injury is running significantly longer than one is accustomed to in a single training session, according to a group of researchers at Aarhus University who conducted a comprehensive study on running injuries.

This conclusion is reported by Jyllands-Posten. The newspaper refers to the study as the largest study on running injuries ever conducted.

According to associate professor Rasmus Ø. Nielsen, who is part of the research group, the prevailing belief has been that overuse injuries develop gradually over time.

"But our research clearly shows that many injuries occur in a single training session, because one trains too much, in relation to what one is accustomed to," he tells the media.

The associate professor adds that approximately 10-15% of all injuries can likely be explained by running too far in a single training session.

This is associated with a slightly increased risk of injury, even if one only extends the run by 1-10%, it sounds.

None of the injuries in the study, which includes over 5,000 runners from 87 countries, can be explained by the fact that one has run more frequently in a week than three weeks earlier.

Rasmus Ø. Nielsen explains that one can get injured if one suddenly runs ten kilometers every day when one is only accustomed to running the same distance twice a week.

The associate professor believes that runners have been misguided for years about the cause of injuries.

This is due to an algorithm, which among other things is used in sports watches from Garmin and Apple.

According to Jyllands-Posten, the watches issue a warning if one, for example, runs five kilometers four times a week, even if one is used to running five kilometers twice a week.

If one does this, the watch will predict that the extra training increases the risk of injury.

The runners in the study were required to report weekly for half a year whether they had been injured.

If it was the case, they were asked to report which day the injury occurred.

Warning: This article was translated by a Large Language Model, in case of doubt, you can always visit the original source.