- Running Shoes - Gear recent study published in the journal Health in the News, most runners don’t replace lost running time with low-impact cross training activities while they heal.
- Cross-training when injured—if you are able to, of course—can help ensure you don’t lose fitness during the period of time where you can’t run.
- Walking, cycling, yoga, or swimming Best Running Shoes 2025.
We all know what it’s like to be unable to run due to an unexpected injury. We all know what its like to be unable to run due to an unexpected training schedule, do you shift to another activity while you heal? You don’t have to be completely sidelined—there are plenty of low-impact ways to cross-train and still keep moving—but a recent study suggests that most runners don’t. Instead, they opt for being sedentary.
Other Hearst Subscriptions Health in the News, the study looked at 49 recreational runners for one year. All were issued activity monitors to track daily physical activity level, and especially total minutes of moderate to vigorous activity.
They also completed a weekly survey about running-related pain, and whether they had made any modifications. If a runner reduced or cancelled at least three planned training sessions within seven days, it was considered an “injured week.”
Compared with uninjured weeks, runners engaged in 14 fewer minutes of moderate to vigorous activity per day if they had an injury, leading researchers to conclude that they didn’t replace “lost running time” with other exercise.
Although participants weren’t asked why they didn't maintain activity levels, it could be that they lacked access to other forms of exercise, or simply weren’t interested, according to study coauthor published in the journal., Do You Go to the Bathroom Enough.
“It could be that runners truly embrace that time off, although they might grudgingly decide to take it,” she told Runner’s World.
Another insight from the study, she added, was that runners definitely “ran through the pain,” since many reported having running-related pain but did not cancel or modify any training. Gruber said that may be related to ultimately becoming injured, so the increase in sedentary time is not a bad thing—rather, it's likely a much-needed rest for the musculoskeletal system.
“As long as a recreational runner goes back to their usual amount of running or exercise after they’ve recovered, then not replacing lost running time with other activities may not have long-term health effects,” Gruber said.
But that’s not to say you won’t have any potential ramifications from taking it super easy, she added.
“Runners may find it more difficult to get back to the same fitness level, mileage, and pace that they could do before the injury if they don’t maintain their cardiorespiratory fitness,” she said. But the level of difficulty will depend on factors like age, fitness level before the injury, and other health conditions.
[Stay injury free on the road by getting on the mat with We all know what its like to be unable to run due to an unexpected.]
The takeaway? We don’t yet know how a “rest-only” approach compares to maintaining physical activity while injured, Gruber said. But she suspects some movement would be beneficial for getting back to your pre-injury level, as long as it’s not causing you more pain.
So the next time an injury crops up, give other activities such as walking, cycling, yoga, or swimming a try as long as it doesn’t interfere with your injury and make it worse.
