How to start your own walking or running regimen

Aches, pains and injuries
Expect mild stiffness and soreness the day after activity, says Lum. You are causing muscle breakdown and inflammation, which stimulates muscles to grow and get stronger. But you should be pain-free before you do the activity again.

If discomfort continues (for example, your knees are so sore that it's hard to walk downstairs), see your doctor, a sports medicine physician, a physiotherapist or other health-care professionals. You may have an injury, or the way your foot or body is built may be causing problems. For example, many people have flat feet that overpronate; that is, when they walk, their feet naturally roll inward from the outside edge of the heel in to the big toes instead of rolling straight along the bottom from heel to toe. If you overpronate, various leg and knee injuries can result.

Certain exercises can help, and there are athletic shoes specially designed for overpronators and supinators (whose feet roll outward, the opposite of pronators). A health professional might also recommend orthotics, which are custom-made insoles that you wear in your shoes. They can correct or reduce improper foot motions that lead to chronic injuries; overpronators or people who have a significant difference in the length of their legs can often benefit from using them.

Some women have knee problems when they run, says Kevin Longpré, a certified athletic therapist at Concordia Sports Medicine in Montreal. "Different muscular and structural imbalances can affect the knee, and women's naturally wide hips - and the angle from the hip down to knee - make women especially susceptible to knee strain."

But don't nix running altogether, says Longpré. "What's important is a balance between having good flexibility, proper strength and knee stability -- so it can handle the load you're going to put on it." Stretching regularly helps -- when you don't, you lose your range of motion because the muscles become too tight.

Building up muscles in the lower body will also help, says Longpré. This helps stabilize the knee because all the muscles cross the knee. As a unit, strong, healthy and flexible muscles protect the knee. He also suggests trying over-the-counter knee brace products, such as the Futuro Open-Patella Knee Support ($18 to $20 each), which are available at drugstores, grocery stores and mass-market retailers.

Rest and rehab
Most running and walking injuries are curable, says Simon, and you'll heal faster if you deal with them right away. She recommends the RICE formula to decrease pain and swelling.

• Rest and protect the injured limb (most running injuries are in the lower part of the body) from further injury by stopping the activity right away. "Working through" an injury can actually make it worse.
• Ice for the first 48 to 72 hours after the injury. Wrap a bag of ice, commercial cold packs or even a bag of frozen peas or corn around the injured area with a towel, and leave on for 10 to 15 minutes every two hours.
• Compress the area to help decrease the swelling. If you are on your feet or walking around a lot, wrap an elastic bandage around the area for the first couple of days. Don't wear the bandage to bed or if you elevate the injured part during the day.
• Elevate the injured limb to promote blood flow and healing and to decrease any swelling.

If there's no improvement after a couple of days of RICE, see a sports-medicine or health professional. Rehabilitation may include medicine (anti-inflammatories, such as acetylsalicylic acid or ibuprofen), manual therapy (mobilizing joints or working on the softer tissue such as muscles or ligaments) and/or exercises to build up strength, balance and flexibility. Your doctor might also suggest ultrasound, which uses high-frequency sound waves to produce deep, healing heat in the injured area.

There are other therapies that are also helpful in treating running injuries. Laser therapy shoots a helium-neon laser into the injured tissue to increase circulation. Transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) sends electrical signals to nerves near an injury site to reduce pain. Interferential current (IFC) uses electric current to stimulate nerve cells to help decrease pain and inflammation.

Another technique is iontophoresis, which uses an electrical current to drive pain medication, such as an anti-inflammatory or cortisone-type drug, underneath the skin and directly into the inflamed area, explains Lum. Phonophoresis uses sound waves to do the same thing. Both techniques may shorten recovery time, and there are fewer side-effects because you're not delivering the drug throughout the body, says Lum. "But we use it depending on the case, and, practically speaking, it is moderate in terms of success."

Unless you are receiving treatment from a medical doctor, there are user fees for many of these treatments. Across Canada, the initial assessment by a physiotherapist will cost $45 to $75, and subsequent visits are $35 to $45.

Diet
A healthy diet for runners and walkers includes carbohydrates for refuelling muscles, protein for rebuilding muscles, and vitamins and minerals to help in recovery after a vigorous workout. Drinking lots of water is important, too. When you are dehydrated, you're more prone to injury.

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