In fact, studies show that 50% of regular runners receive some form of related injury each year—with some estimates putting the percentage even higher. A portion of these injuries can be ascribed to incidents involving falls and collisions, but the vast majority are related to overuse.

When phrased so woefully, it can sound as though a reduction in running volume, or swerving the activity altogether may be the only way to circumvent certain injury, so in the interest of avoiding lazy pessimism, let’s reframe overuse to under-preparedness, as this is something we can proactively work on.

The straightest line to increasing your capacity to avoid injury is simple- get stronger. Think of strength as the ‘buffer zone’ between your body and harm, when the strength is specific and deliberately cultivated, the more you have the more mileage you can manage.

With more and more resources cropping up surrounding strength training for runners, it can be hard to know where to start, and it may seem as though you’ll have to overhaul your entire gym routine to see any benefits; but this doesn’t need to be the case.

This quick fire kettlebell workout requires only one piece of kit, but ticks all of the boxes for building a bulletproof runners body 

Working the postural muscles of your upper back, strengthening your hamstrings and glutes, working unilaterally to address imbalances and incorporating only sparingly some running specific drills to strengthen and mobilise your hips and core.

Simply throw this protocol in at the end of your lower body day to reap the benefits.