Best foot forward for marathons with training camp
Parents take their children for stretching exercises under the direction of professionals at Shanghai Jiahui International Hospital on Sunday.
With a series of marathons planned for the city in coming months, local medical experts are launching pre-marathon lectures and training courses to help runners be better prepared and avoid sports injuries.
Running and marathon is increasing in popularity among Chinese in recent years, however, the overall prevalence of physical exercise is still low in the nation. Many people have misunderstandings and blindly follow some trend while doing sports.
Doctors said a marathon is not a health run. Participants should have a scientific plan beforehand.
Runners carry out muscle stretching under the guidance of professionals at the training camp.
"Almost half of knee and ankle injuries take place during sports," said Dr Liu Yan from Shanghai Jiahui International Hospital, which launched a training camp ahead of the 2023 Shanghai Women's Half Marathon on May 1 as the event's cooperative partner.
It is the first time that a medical facility has organized special training courses for runners to help them avoid injuries, and cultivate standard exercise habits.
"Compared with males, women have a higher chance for knee injury due to physical structure," Liu said.
"Female runners should receive targeted training to protect the knee. Proper warm-up before running, and muscle stretching afterwards can effectively reduce the risk of injury. We encourage runners to receive professional direction and support during the whole process for a better and safer sports."
Proper preparation and warm-up can prevent sports injury.
