Running coaches and running group leaders' engagement with, and beliefs and perceived barriers to prehabilitation and injury prevention strategies for runners

Linda Linton*, Stephanie Valentin

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

6 Citations (Scopus)
35 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

Objectives: To identify which pre-and post-run injury risk reduction activities and prehabilitation (prehab) strategies Coaches and Running Group Leaders (Coaches/RGLs) engage in with runners; to explore their beliefs on why runners get injured; to identify Coaches/RGLs confidence providing injury prevention activities, and what they believe are effective for reducing risk of injury; to identify their perceived barriers to including prehab during running coaching/training. 

Design: Survey; Participants: UK Coaches/RGLs (N = 100) 

Outcome measures: Online questionnaire with open, closed and Likert scale questions. 

Results: Most Coaches/RGLs performed active warm-ups (97%), cool-downs (94%),gave injury prevention advice (91%), and advice on recovery strategies (84%) during training. Fewer coaches/RGLs incorporated prehab (67%). Although they collectively exhibited a wide range of knowledge, individually there was less consistency and confidence providing this. Prehab was rated as very important for injury risk reduction, with supervision recommended to facilitate runner engagement. Coaches/RGLs found conflicting advice, time, environment, and resistance from runners as barriers to incorporating prehab into training. 

Conclusion: Coaches/RGLs believe prehab is important for runners however lack of confidence and knowledge appeared to limit the wider inclusion of prehab with runners. Coaches/RGLs welcomed reputable information on prehab from evidence-based sources. This may assist in reducing injury.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)54-62
Number of pages9
JournalPhysical Therapy in Sport
Volume46
Early online date16 Aug 2020
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 30 Nov 2020

Keywords

  • injury prevention
  • load management
  • running related injury
  • strength training

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