Physiotherapy & Marathon Training – Optimise your performance

About this time of year many people will decide to spend the rest of the winter training to do the London, Brighton or Paris marathon. Some will be seasoned competitors, with their bodies highly tuned and adept to the punishing miles of training required to complete the event in a decent time and without suffering too much on the day.

Others may leave a few stones unturned, and not necessarily prepare as thoroughly as possible in their quest to get round. Sometimes this is due to time, sometimes it is due to injuries, sometimes due to the misguided belief that they are fit and sporty and ‘good at other stuff’ therefore don’t need to prepare well.

The old adage of ‘failure to prepare being preparing to fail’ has never been more true. However, preparing your body for the big day isn’t just about pounding the pavements and getting the miles done. All marathon runners know about the importance of varying speed, distance and terrain during training, adding hill runs in and doing intervals, but how many people compliment their training with an appropriate strength, conditioning, flexibility and stability programme.

By having your body fully assessed by a Chartered Physiotherapist areas of tension, weakness, inefficiency, asymmetry and potential injury can be identified, with an appropriate management plan then being written and implemented. Old injuries can also be reviewed, ensuring they don’t recur and further inhibit your training. Optimising every area of your physical capacity will result in more productive training, quicker recovery times, more efficient running, and a more enjoyable experience overall.

Your physical profile will be a dynamic thing, changing as your body adapts to the training, flexibility and strengthening work you are advised to do. After physiotherapy, changes can be made to your physical training programme on a weekly or fortnightly basis, helping to improve your overall athleticism and capacity to cope with 26.2 miles. Well.