Injuries are not fun, and neither is aging, but the two don’t always go hand in hand. Canadian physiotherapists argue that whether you’re fresh out of school or newly retired, age does not necessarily determine your running injury status. In fact, these physiotherapists have found older runners outperforming newcomers to the sport, and here’s why.
Staying in tune
Dr. Waldo Cheung, a physiotherapist and speaker at Vancouver’s The Running Clinic, says approximately 80 per cent of injured runners are novices. He explains that since the advent of running watches, many new runners have mistakenly overdone it by following their watch’s training schedule rather than listening to their bodies. Older runners who may have run for many years, Cheung says, tend to stick to what they know, which usually isn’t technology. Instead, they deload (i.e., take a short, planned break from running) from time to time, allowing their bodies to recover between training builds.
Movement as medicine
An old stereotype observed by physiotherapists is that running into your old age can lead to knee osteoarthritis (the result of wear and tear and progressive loss of cartilage). In reality, the prevalence of knee osteoarthritis in recreational runners is three times less than in sedentary non-runners. Dr. Greg Cugnet, a physiotherapist at Kitsilano Physiotherapy in Vancouver, has found that older people, even those with knee osteoarthritis, improve their knees by running because they continue to build muscle. Younger runners who sign up for a race and take long breaks between training, Cugnet says, are at a much greater risk for knee injuries.
Reducing stress
Mechanical stress quantification, also known as load management, is the process athletes use to manage stress on their tissues. Cheung points to studies by The Running Clinic that have found that younger runners often push their bodies to the limit, putting a lot of stress on their tissues. With more years under their belt, older runners tend to prioritize slower and longer runs, as well as being happy and well-rested, making it easier for their bodies to adapt to training.
Our bodies are very capable of adapting to change and telling us what they can do. But when we do too much, too soon, that’s when injuries happen—regardless of age.
