During home confinement, we got used to seeing marathon heroics completed in a 10-meter long corridor. Or kilometers and kilometers added up in a balcony that did not exceed 15 meters, from end to end. Or even runners who ran in a circle through the garden, as if it were a running track. Images close in time that, however, could be repeated again, depending on the evolution of the Covid-19 pandemic.
On the other hand, there are also those who have reacted with fear and respect to the virus and continue to run inside their homes. The syndrome of the cabin, or not wanting to leave the house, is another psychological effect that the current panorama is leaving us.
MOST COMMON INJURIES FROM RUNNING AT HOME
Whatever the reason you continue to run at home or are considering doing so, we want to send you a warning message: running at home is not without danger. “The danger of getting injured,” as the coach and physical trainer Albert Cabezas qualifies us. And he continues with his explanation: “tendinitis, meniscus tear, tear of the cruciate ligaments or lateral knee ligaments, ankle joint injuries, fiber breakage or plantar fasciitis… these are just some of the injuries that hover over amateur runners who they trained in their day or continue to do it at home”. As we can see, home sports also involve its fortunes and fatalities.
Running in a closed and very insignificant space, “has nothing to do with doing it in the middle of the mountain, in the city, in the park or by the sea,” says Cabezas. And it is that “it is clear that we do not want to lose shape, but we must also be aware of the risks that this entails and avoid some grotesque, albeit motivating, images of athletes spinning non-stop on a terrace”. And it is that “this type of turns in such a limited space, to cite just one example, multiplies joint damage”, warns the coach.
To run 5 kilometers in a corridor of just over 10 meters long, we will have to make a total of 500 turns, multiplying the probability of suffering muscle injuries.
In this regard, the personal trainer lectures on one of the most obvious threats to running at home. “The constant braking and repeated turning over and over again, multiply, and much, the probability of suffering muscle injuries.” Why? “Well, because we are working the eccentric a lot, with a constant brake and repeated over and over again in muscular areas such as the quadriceps, the hamstrings, the glutes, the adductors, the lower back, and the calves,” he answers. And the expert offers us a very relevant piece of information: to run 5 kilometers in a corridor just over 10 meters long, and we will have to make a total of 500 turns. “A real outrage.”
STRENGTH EXERCISES, HIIT AND CACO, POSSIBLE ALTERNATIVES
The most intrepid even circuits are generated, almost of obstacles, as if it were a Spartan Race test, although homemade. Removing furniture, removing tables and sofas, and creating the right terrain to be able to run in the best conditions, “and with the least obstacles and obstacles along the way.” “As an idea, it is very good, especially to keep motivation intact and feel active.” However, “rather than continue running in such a small space, it is preferable to look for other types of exercises, strength or even HIIT (High-Intensity Interval Training ) sessions, to keep fit,” explains Albert Cabezas.
Rather than continuing to run in a small space, it is preferable to seek other types of exercises, strength, or even HIIT (High-Intensity Interval Training ) sessions, to maintain shape.
Knowing, yes, “that it is inevitable that we lose a part of our physical form, but it is not necessary to dramatize on this issue”, affirms the specialist forcefully and, at the same time, understanding. In this sense, he argues that “exercise is the best remedy to manage confinement and its consequences well, but we must always do it with caution and avoid excesses”. And yes, running a marathon in the garden or in the hall “is reckless.”
At this point, Cabezas offers us good advice to avoid excessively the joint damage previously mentioned by sudden turns in a short space. “The traditional formula of the caco, on a small scale, can be a good solution.” Let’s remember that the caco, in running terminology, means alternating running (co) with walking (ca), hence its own name. “If we have a not very long corridor or a terrace with little space, we can run the length, we walk back and start jogging again.” In this way, “we avoid dangerous sharp turns” and what some have already called the “corridor or meniscus syndrome”.
EXPERIENCE CAN BE A DEGREE (OR NOT)
Cabezas makes a distinction between the degree of training that each runner has. “Physical damage can be very evident in people who are not used to exercising and who are now beginning to do so, without the best possible conditions – as we have explained previously – without there being a tomorrow.” On the contrary, “in the case of runners accustomed to going out to train 4-5 times a week, their body is more prepared for exercise”. However, “impatience and the change in trend when it comes to running can also wreak havoc on them”, warns Cabezas.
Cabezas, who is also a trained psychologist, notes and leaves us a phrase for reflection: “anxiety produces monsters”. And this can appear “in runners who have just started, but also in those with more kilometers on their legs who cannot miss a single day without exercising.” The best way to jog at home is to get hold of a treadmill? “Logically, it is the best option, but also being aware of the warnings that this entails since it is not the same as jogging through the city”, describes the trainer (in a previous article, we already talked about the specificities that it has running on a belt ).
THE LUCKY ONES FROM THE TAPE
Continuing to run on top of a treadmill “will largely avoid the most undesirable sequel from confined runners.” And this is none other than “the loss of muscle mass,” explains the coach. “It’s something that the most compulsive runners, or the most obsessed, to put it in some way, do not want to tolerate.” However, “it is the law of life if there is confinement, and then we can regain said muscle mass in a short time, returning to normal.” And Albert continues with his diatribe, “more than seeing confinement as a problem, it is an opportunity to change habits and work on a type of exercises that we do not normally do”, as he has already indicated before.
It is one thing to stay active and active, quite another to ruin any kind of specific work plan designed for moments of more freedom and greater possibilities for outdoor exercise.
The hormone of happiness that is going out for a run causes the well-known release of endorphins, “we can also achieve it, in part, by implementing other types of exercises that will keep us. Almost in the same physical shape”, in the words of a personal trainer, Albert himself Heads. And it is that “one thing is to stay active and active, and quite another is to ruin any type of specific work plan designed for moments of more freedom and greater possibilities of exercising outdoors. Especially if we do not have a treadmill that we allow to run naturally”, closes forcefully.
RESPONSIBILITY, ABOVE ALL
Triathlete Jan Frodeno completed a home Ironman during confinement. “We can take their example to motivate us, but never to follow in their footsteps.” It is the same Jan Frodeno who has popularized a phrase that, in his case, is like a mantra: “I am made of a life of training, not just victories”. An argument to applaud within the elite sport that has intrinsic values such as effort, perseverance, or improvement. “And it is very good that images like yours are virtualized around the world and motivate us; we need, more than ever, positive impetus and authentic models like the one offered by Frodeno.”
However, in the case of amateur athletes, and more in the current disposition, we should transform this mantra into: “I am made of a life that goes beyond training, not everything must be running”, Albert Cabezas adds, appealing to the responsibility of all and all. And to close this article, he leaves us another reflection of the North American runner and motivator Mark Will-Weber: “running is real and relatively simple, but it is not easy.” And he adds, in his own handwriting, “with the coronavirus pandemic and its domestic effects, let’s not make this sporting discipline more complex than it already is by itself.”
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