FEELING GREAT: How to prevent injuries and alleviate tight muscles when running

And as I got to finishing the third run, I felt a sudden tightness in my hamstrings.

Usually I wouldn’t suffer from hamstring tightness just off the back of a gentle jog – few people should, unless something else is going on.

But after a long winter of wind and rain (when I stick to the hard concrete surfaces) now that the ground is firmer, this week I took to the fields for the first time and that brought in one or two “hills” for my body to relearn to ascend and descend. Initially, this is not great for the lower back.

And if it’s not great for the lower back – the hamstrings are likely to feel it too.

Now although my right hamstring didn’t “tear”, it felt as though it was getting tighter and tighter – almost ready to “cramp”! And cramping can be a sign that the muscle has, or is, about to rip.

Tightness is NOT something that I would advise you try to “run through”. If anything, I’d advise that you slow it down, stop and even stretch it out.

For me, the tightness came on about 10 minutes from home and so all I decided to do was to “slow down”.

Put my hamstrings through less of a workout and even walk up the hills, stretching as I walked.

Anyhow, here’s the moral in this week’s story: When it’s warmer you want to do things that you may not have been motivated to do before.

And when we’ve been spending more time indoors recently, I can’t stress enough how important it is to ease into a fitness regime AND vary what you do.

Plenty more sports injury tips are waiting here, www.paulgoughphysio.com/sports-injury-clinic