4 Science-Backed Tips To Stop Bone Injuries Before They Destroy Your Marathon

Estimated read time: 3 minutes

Hey! - Performance Nerd Jonah here.

Warning: Over 20% of runners will suffer a bone stress injury and it will destroy your marathon.

12 weeks of no running. Your marathon is over.

Good thing I’m teaming up with my best friend (science) to give you the ultimate 4-step guide to reduce bone stress injuries.

Enjoy this week’s guide, the nerdy question, and my favorite sciencey finds.

1) Eat Enough Calories and Carbs

Real talk. Not eating enough increases your chances of a bone injury by 450%!

Your body is constantly using calories and carbs to rebuild small cracks in your bones.

When you don’t eat enough (especially carbs), your body slows down bone building. It uses the little energy it has to fuel the vital organs that keep you alive. 🧠

Carb Guide for Strong Bones:

2) Bone Strengthening Exercises

Bad news. Long distance running won’t build strong bones. 😬

The best bone building exercises include high forces that happen very quickly. This puts a lot of stress on the bone, which tells your body to build these bones back stronger.

We’re talking jumping exercises (plyometrics) and explosive weight training.

I recommend 15-20 reps for 2-3 sets of jumping exercises, 2-3 times per week.

A favorite is these zig-zag hops:

No Jonahs were hurt in the making of this video. Just my ego once I saw that beautiful mustache. 🥸

rosnerperformance

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More Exercises for Bones:

• Side to Side Pogos

• Single Leg Pogos

• Drop Jumps (only do 4-6 reps per set)

For more, check out Dr. Rich Willy’s awesome post on this:

montanarunninglab

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Also highly recommend Rich’s course on Running Injuries

3) Slowly Progress Training

Want to know something that will f*ck you up? 😅

Running 0 miles one week and then running 50 miles the next week. You’re not David Goggins… chill.

A huge mistake runners make is going through sudden and large changes in training loads.

In fact, 60% of all running injuries are related to these “training errors.”

This means you quickly increase how many miles you run, how fast you run, how often you run, or a combination of all three.

Training guidelines to reduce your bone injury risk:

• Increase mileage slowly on a weekly and monthly basis

  • A weekly jump of 20 miles 🚫

• Space out your intense running by 2-3 days

• Don’t make big jumps in both the amount you run in a week (volume) and how much speed work you do that week (intensity)

  • If you do more speed work one week, keep overall volume the same

  • If you do more miles one week, reduce speed work in that week

• If you’re extra tired or sore, take a recovery week where you reduce your miles by 20-50%

• If you've had a bone injury before, take a recovery week at least every 12th week

  • This allows your bones to re-sensitize or recover faster from running after the break

4) Supplements (Vitamin D + Calcium)

Your bones love Vitamin D and Calcium more than Augie (my dog) loves when the doorbell rings.

One study reported a 600% increase in bone stress injuries in female runners with low Calcium. 😱

Your bones are made of Calcium and Vitamin D plays a critical role in absorbing that Calcium from your stomach!

I would get bloodwork done to see if your Calcium and Vitamin D levels are in the healthy range.

As a sciencey person, I recommend:

• 1500mg of Calcium per day

• Vitamin D supplement of 5000 IU / day (if you’re low on Vitamin D)

  • Take Vitamin D with a Vitamin K supplement since they tend to work better together for strong bones.

  • My favorite Vitamin D

Foods High in Calcium:

• Dairy Products (Milk, Yogurt, Cheese)

• Green Vegetables

• Nuts

Sorry cows, we got strong bones to build and marathons to win.

Practical Summary

• Eat enough calories and carbs to provide your body energy to rebuild your bones after running

• Include plyometrics, hops and jumps in your weekly gym program

  • 15-20 reps for 2-3 sets of jumping exercises, 2-3 times per week.

• Slowly increase your mileage and speed workouts

  • Consider a low mileage week every 12 weeks if you have suffered from bone injuries before

• Supplement with 5000 IU / day of Vitamin D and get 15000mg of Calcium if bloodwork shows you are below the healthy range

  • Take your Vitamin D with a Vitamin K supplement

Don’t forget: You + Science = AWESOMENESS 😎

Yours in science,

Jonah

Please email me directly if you’re interested in references for this week!