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The criteria we use before anyone goes back to full running, and why a pain-free week on its own doesn't tell you very much.
Somebody stops hurting and asks the obvious question. Can I run again?
The honest answer is that a pain free week tells us less than people think. Pain settling is the first thing that happens in recovery, not the last, and going back on the strength of it is the single most common reason people end up injured twice.
Pain usually goes when you stop doing the thing that provokes it. That's useful information about what irritates the tissue, and almost none about whether it can handle running again.
Meanwhile the time off has cost you. Calf strength drops. Tendons lose capacity. Balance and control fade faster than most people expect. So the day you feel ready is often the day you're least prepared.
These are the things we want to see before anyone goes back to a full running week.
Single leg calf raises to fatigue, comparing sides. Your calves absorb an enormous amount of running load, and a deficit here shows up as Achilles, shin or foot pain within a fortnight of returning.
Can you load one leg and control it, hold a balance and manage a single leg squat without the knee drifting? Running is a series of single leg landings, so if that's shaky at walking speed it won't improve at pace.
Hopping tests how you tolerate impact and how well you absorb it on landing. We compare sides and look at quality as much as distance.
This is the one people skip. Symptoms during a test matter less than what happens 24 hours later. A test session that feels fine and leaves you sore the following morning tells us the capacity isn't there yet.
Return to running is rarely straight back to your old distance. It usually starts as a walk run, with the running portions short and the total volume well below where you finished.
From there we increase one thing at a time. Distance, then frequency, then intensity, and never all three in the same week. Hills and speed come last.
Returning to sport on a set of criteria rather than a date is associated with lower reinjury rates. It also gives you something more useful than permission. You end up knowing what your body can currently handle and what to do when something niggles.
That's the difference between a return that holds and one that lasts a fortnight.
Give us a call and we will talk you through what we think is best for your recovery.
Perhaps you've been here before. A long wait that went nowhere, or a sheet of exercises and no real plan. If you're unsure whether we're the right fit, you don't have to book anything to find out.
Tell us what's going on and we'll come back to you honestly and let you know how we can help.
