Do injury-resistant runners have distinct differences in clinical measures compared to recently injured runners?

Key Points

1. This retrospective study tested 223 runners to determine if there were differences in strength, joint motion, foot alignment or asymmetry between recently injured runners, those with acquired injury resistance, and runners that had never been injured.

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BACKGROUND & OBJECTIVE

Some runners seem to be able to run without care and rarely get injured. Others barely have to look at their running shoes and something starts to hurt! Little is known about what separates these ‘injury-resistant’ runners from those more prone to pain.

We might think that strength, joint motion or alignment factors would play a role in determining injury resistance, but recent research has challenged their role in the development of running-related injury (1).

This study sought to examine the effect of injury status on these common clinical measures to see if injury resistance correlated with strength, range or functional foot alignment.

Recent research has challenged the role of strength, joint motion and alignment in the development of running-related injuries.

We should use our clinical reasoning and judgement and work collaboratively with athletes to determine when resistance training is indicated.

METHODS

A total of 223 runners were tested in the study: 116 were recently injured (those injured 3 to 12 months prior to the study), 61 had ‘acquired injury resistance’ (those whose most recent injury was over two years ago), and

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