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September 28, 2001
Article # 4 (Read about the series) - Download PDF
Water Running - A Secret Weapon
by Glenn Venturini MS, MPT
An in-season injury can be devastating for a runner, especially if the athlete is told they can't run during the early stages of the rehabilitation process. Some types of injuries do not allow athletes to run or perform other types of cardiovascular training because of pain, decreased weight bearing on the injured leg, casts or surgery. As a result, the runner begins to lose conditioning and falls behind his or her competition. Water running is an underutilized training exercise when an injury prevents full weight bearing. Additionally, many times the cardiovascular conditioning exercises performed in the water are not achieving maximum benefit for the athlete. This article will explain how to train in water if land running is prohibited due to an injury. Remember to first check with your medical professional to determine if water running is appropriate.
Previous practices in rehabilitation have focused on biking, cross country skiing, swimming, stair climbing and other forms of low impact training to help maintain conditioning if the athlete is injured. While these types of cardiovascular exercises are good ways to condition during rehabilitation, they are not the same as running. In order to maintain or improve your "running shape" you must run. The law of specificity of training tells us athletes must train the way they compete to maximize conditioning for a race; Lance Armstrong trains by cycling, Alan Webb trains by running, Ian Thorpe trains by swimming. In simple terms, the way you choose to train (running, biking or swimming) produces specific changes in your muscles for the chosen activity. If your physician tells you land running is on hold, ask them about water running.
Water running has been used by many injured world class runners and other athletes who participate in sports that require running. The benefits of water running include; decreased stress to the injury site, improving or maintaining your fitness level, ability to perform resistive exercises in the water to strengthen the injured area and a positive attitude because you can continue to train. Some examples of training in water include duplicating the land workouts. For example, let's say the cross country coach had planned for 6 repeat 800's to be run in 3 minutes with a 3 minute slow jog recovery. You would run in the water for the same amount of time and perform the same recovery. If the coach calls for a long steady run of 30-45 minutes you can do the same in the water.
Water running is challenging because every movement pushes against the resistance of water. Match your effort of land training to water running. Fatigue will be overwhelming if you attempt to match speed. Your coach, athletic trainer and /or physical therapist together can put together a custom program to continue training and rehab the injury at the same time.
Some things to remember about water running:
- A lifeguard should be present,
- Wear a flotation device,
- Run in deep water so your feet do not touch the bottom,
- Run in place with high knees, do not bike pedal in the water,
- Lean slightly forward while running,
- Keep hands in a thumbs up position with open palms and,
- Run as many days in the water as you would have on land.
Give yourself time to adjust to water running, when you return to practice you may find your self in front of, instead of behind the pack!
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For more information, or with questions, please email:
PaulR@PainRelief-PT.com
