Returning to Running After Injury: A Step-by-Step Guide

One of the biggest mistakes after injury is treating return to running as an on/off switch.

You are injured.

Then you're “cleared”.

Then you go back to your normal 5km.

A better approach is to think of running as another progressive rehabilitation exercise.

Step 1: Build enough capacity

Before running, we may assess:

• walking tolerance
• strength
• calf capacity
• single-leg control
• hopping
• impact tolerance

The exact criteria depend on the injury.

Step 2: Introduce running gradually

For some people this starts with run/walk intervals.

For example: 2 minutes running / 1 minute walking × 6

That allows us to introduce running load without immediately asking the body to tolerate 30 continuous minutes.

Step 3: Increase duration

Once the body is tolerating running consistently, we can progressively increase total running time.

Step 4: Build continuous running

The next goal may be moving from intervals towards uninterrupted easy running.

Step 5: Add intensity

Speed, hills and harder sessions generally place different demands on the body.

They don't necessarily need to return at the same time as easy running.

Step 6: Return to normal training

Eventually, running needs to look like the activity you're preparing for.

A recreational 5km runner, marathon runner and footballer will require different end-stage programs.

Watch the response

The most important information often comes from what happens after the run and the following morning.

A good return-to-run program adapts based on this response rather than blindly progressing because a spreadsheet says it's time.

Related Articles

• Running Assessment
• Runner’s Knee
• Bone Stress Injuries