How to stay running-injury free, for life

Brisbane, July 2016 – Be it shin splints, a stress fracture or runner’s knee, if you’re a keen runner, the statistics say you’ll probably experience a running-related injury at some point in your career. In fact, some estimate that as many as 80% of runners are injured each and every year.

 

For those who are passionate about running, injury can present a real hurdle. Whilst some injuries are minor, and easily overcome, others can put pay to much-trained-for races, personal bests, and even conclude running careers.

 

A better way to train

 

Motivated by the certainty that there was a better way to train, Australian company run4 have spent the last few years developing a running tool that can change these overwhelming statistics. One that can proactively prevent running injuries.

 

“Most running injuries are caused by overuse—applying repeated force over a prolonged period of time,” explains Steve Cranitch, founder of run4. “Sudden changes in training volume can also do some damage, all adding up to inflammation, irritation and, ultimately, pain that prevents you from running.”

 

“The injury rates incurred by runners always struck me as alarming,” adds Steve, who witnessed a number of his friends abandon running altogether and instead turn to cycling. “For people who love running, cycling – or indeed any form of indoor cross training –  isn’t really an adequate alternative, so we set out to find a way for runners to improve their training and remove the risk of injury.”

 

What Steve and his team came up with has, over the past year, proven to change the way in which athletes both train and view injury prevention.   

 

A supplementary training aid

 

Launched via a successful crowd funding campaign just one year ago, the Australian-born Bionic Runner is the world’s first – and only – non-impact outdoor fitness trainer to replicate the motion of running.

 

“Unlike an elliptical trainer, the Bionic Runner has a unique patent-pending 60% swing and 40% stance phase timing, which guides the foot along the path of a mid-foot running gait,” explains Steve. “Basically, you not only look and feel as if you’re running, you engage the same muscles as you would pounding the pavement, too, which sets the Bionic Runner apart from any other cross trainer in the market.”

 

Thanks to its non-impact closed kinetic chain, training with the Bionic Runner also eliminates the risk of injury from impact fatigue and joint over extension – the two most common causes of joint, tendon and muscle-related strain injuries.

 

A proactive training tool

 

Whilst injured runners around the world have been clamoring to buy the Bionic Runner in order to maintain their running fitness through injury, for others, the decision to purchase has been more about proactively preventing running injuries.

 

For US Masters marathon runner, Maggie Mason, the decision to purchase a Bionic Runner was all about preventing injury – and therefore keeping her outside, doing the thing she loves most – running.

 

“I have had my share of strained hamstrings, psoas or hip flexor spasms, popliteus tendinitis, etc., some of which sidelined me for weeks at a time,” she says. “Usually these occur during high-mileage weeks during a track or tempo session during marathon training.”

The options available to Maggie in the past weren’t always enjoyable, particularly as they kept her indoors. “When I’ve been injured in the past, I’ve gone to what I call ellipticHell, which means going to the gym and doing hours of training indoors on the elliptical machine,” she says. “Whilst I don’t have any current injuries, I wanted to be proactive about cross training, so I could still be competitive as an older masters athlete.”

 

Maggie now uses the Bionic Runner to supplement her road running, therefore saving her legs from the pounding they would get, should she put in all the miles on the road. “I can’t do 70 mile weeks anymore, but the Bionic Runner lets me put in the equivalent,” she explains. “The Bionic Runner is a fantastic complement to running, and as a supplementary training aid there’s nothing better.”

Backed by Research

 

The claims made by the team behind the Bionic Runner are also backed by research published in peer-reviewed journals. Collected over the last year, data published in the Australian Journal of Strength and Conditioning shows that, whether using the Bionic Runner for interval, Fartlek, tempo or hill sessions, the runner offers the same intensity as conventional running – without the risk of injury from over extension or impact fatigue.

 

Thanks to the Bionic Runner there is now a way for athletes to put in the mileage they need to each week to meet their running goals, without putting the strain on their body that will ultimately result in injury. ENDS

 

 

Contact information:

 

Running Trainer Pty Ltd

 

PO Box 761

Coorparoo Qld 4151.

 

CEO:                                  Steve Cranitch

Marketing and PR:             Lizzy Fowler

 

For all press enquiries please contact +61 (0) 430 925028 or email lizzy@run4.com

 

Times of availability: 9am-7pm EST or by appointment.

 

More information can be found at: www.run4.com. The Bionic Runner is available to purchase from run4.com