With the 2016 London Marathon taking place on Sunday 24th April, running is on the minds of people all over the country as they make their final preparations to take part in the race. There is no doubt that running a marathon is a huge athletic feat, so making the right preparations, training properly and looking after your body before the race is vital.
Have your plans of running the London Marathon this year been taken away by injury, or are you planning to run next year but are worried about whether your body will be up to it? If you are aiming to run the 2017 race, there are a number of steps that you can take to make sure your body is ready.
Whilst training properly and sticking to a carefully considered diet are huge advantages in preparing for a marathon, what many people don’t focus on as much is the importance of recovery after exercise. Running long distances puts a great deal of strain on the body, so when a marathon or a long training run is complete, you should always do everything you can to ensure that your body is able to fully recover.
Osteopaths focus primarily on the musculoskeletal system, believing that all elements of the body are intrinsically linked. To help aid your recovery after exercise, osteopaths use a range of different gentle manipulative techniques and stretches to help ease tension that has built up in the muscles and around the joints. Sports massages can also be a very effective form of treatment for aiding recovery, with the main aim being to help reduce tension within the soft tissues of the body, including the muscles and tendons. Like osteopathy, a sports massage uses a mixture of massage techniques and active and passive stretching.
Injury prevention
Whilst the practice of osteopathy and sports massage can provide helpful treatments for aiding recovery after exercise, they can also play a big part in preventing injury in the first place. Whilst many runners would not consider booking an appointment with an osteopath when they are feeling fit and strong, treatment can help us to avoid future injuries.
Fairly regularly, the cause of an injury goes much deeper than what triggers it. An osteopath aims to restore your body to a state of equilibrium, helping to rid you of tensions and mobility problems. By visiting an osteopathy, you can learn about any potential problems that could result in injury and make sure that your body is functioning properly.
When an osteopath treats a runner or athlete, they look at the muscles and all the joints that take impact from the running surface (the hard pavements of London can take a particular toll). They can then assess whether any particular joints are stiff or less mobile than they should be, therefore preventing you from running at your peak. By manipulating your joints through massage techniques and suggesting stretches, osteopaths can help to reduce the likelihood of injury and help you to run faster and further by restoring your joints, muscles and tendons to their peak condition.
If you would like to learn more about how osteopathy and sports massage can help you to recover after exercise and help prevent injury, contact us today to arrange an appointment. For our Halesowen practice, call 0121 585 8555, or for our Wombourne clinic, call 01902 894894.
