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What we’ll cover
  1. What is an overuse injury?
  2. How does someone develop an overuse injury?
  3. How do I increase my physical activity after a period of time off without injuring myself? 
  4. So what can we do to reduce the risk of developing an overuse injury following a period of time off? 

Overuse injuries: How to prevent an overuse injury

With many of us changing the type of exercise we may be doing, our physiotherapist Michael Scardamaglia covers how to prevent overuse injuries. Common sites of overuse injuries include the achilles, plantar fascia and knee.

What is an overuse injury?

Overuse injuries are very common amongst the active population and can present as many different conditions such as tendinopathy, neural irritation or even stress fractures. These injuries usually occur in correlation with a period of underloading or normal loading followed by a spike in activity which far exceeds the individual’s previous levels of training.

Over use injuries: how to prevent an overuse injury

How does someone develop an overuse injury?

  • Drastically reducing their physical activity for a period of time and then increasing their load straight back up again without an adequate build up
  • Doing too much, for too long without proper rest and recovery in between.

Let’s use a runner as an example. We know that our runner usually runs 40km per week and has been doing this for the last 4-6 weeks. Now let’s say hypothetically our runner has to reduce the amount of kilometers he/she is running due to circumstances outside of their control and can only manage to do 25km/week for the next month. After a month of 25km/wk our runner attempts to increase back up to 40km/week and begins to notice he/she has a sore achilles tendon. This type of presentation is very common for physiotherapists to see and is a textbook example of an overuse injury.

How do I increase my physical activity after a period of time off without injuring myself? 

For those who are doing more intensive physical activity, following the acute to chronic workload ratio will be the safest way to increase your activity. This will require you to do no more than 1.3x the previous month’s weekly average amount of physical activity in order to reduce our risk of overuse injury to less than 4%. So for our 25km/week runner this means that any greater than 32.5km/week will place him/her in a higher risk bracket for overuse injuries.

So what can we do to reduce the risk of developing an overuse injury following a period of time off? 

    1. Gradually increase our activity/training loads over consecutive weeks to ease back into our regular routine.
  • Use the acute to chronic workload principles to ensure you do not exceed 1.3x your current weekly average
  • Adjusting the intensity of your physical activity initially by reducing the duration, weights, resistance or pace, but no less than 0.8x the previous week’s average.
    1. Ensure you are completing a proper warm up which involves flexibility, mobility, muscle activation and movement skill work.
  • Foam rolling can be a quick and easy way to tackle some mobility work
  • Dynamic stretches to stimulate blood flow to the working muscles
  • Activation work using a theraband is a fantastic way to work your muscles in a controlled manner before exercising
  • Movement skill work for those who are more active may involve some (E.g. high knees running, skipping, bounding, change of direction)
    1. Find alternative methods of exercise if you cannot go to the gym, for a run, ride or walk in the interim (see our blog posts regarding general home exercises for <50s and over >65s)

For those who are further interested in learning how to properly set out their exercise regime following a period of time off, our physiotherapists are happy to help guide you through to achieving your goals whilst staying injury free. Call us today or book online.


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Last week our team celebrated another great year. 

Whilst Melbourne’s weather had its own plans, we were still determined to keep with the theme of ‘Italian Summer’. We let our hair down to master the art of mixology 🍸🍹followed by an Italian feast. Friday morning Run Club with the team. Practicing what we preach!

Staying stronger, healthier and happier. This time last week, our team was nervously completing their final preparations for @melbmara . 

Congratulations to our physiotherapists and ME community who ran on the day.

Dilen and Michael completed their first marathons. Abbey and Lizzie smashed out their first half. Last Sunday, our team headed down to see our own Matt Warren win a premiership in the VAFA Premier Men’s Competition. Last week our team dedicated a full day to professional development and team building. At ME Physio we pride ourselves on collaboration to put you at the centre of everything we do. 

Our team covered the latest treatments for back pain, financial well-being and finished off the day with salsa dancing. 

Many thanks to our guests including James Schomburgk from @the2ndvisitphysio , Financial Planners Tony Vikram & Cameron Bishop and the @salsafoundation At ME Physio, our focus is on helping you get stronger so that you can keep doing the things you love.

For Tony and Joan, healthier and stronger is being able to navigate the iconic Coast to Coast Walk in the UK! We recently had the pleasure of hosting Elise Bujor from Women’s & Men’s Health Physiotherapy to discuss women’s health issues across the lifespan. 

Our team pride themselves on staying up to date to ensure you’re able to stay healthier, happier and stronger. Huge milestones over the past few weeks with both Tom and Jude from @delasallefc doing their first bit of running in their rehab. 

Tom is on the return from an ankle dislocation whilst Jude is putting in the hard work following a knee reconstruction. Last week our team enjoyed some friendly rivalry at the footy. 

With finals around the corner, some of our team can now safely make holidays plans for September. We recently had the pleasure of hosting the podiatry team from @sespodiatry. 

Our physiotherapists Michael and Abbey presented on rehabilitation following Achilles surgical repair and ankle surgery. Last weekend some of our team got together to complete the 10 km run @runmelbourne. There was no finish line picture as some were keen to run another 15 km!

Whilst running wasn’t for some - brunch was well received by everyone. Shoulder impingement can be incredibly frustrating and painful. 

Tony has been working closely with our physiotherapists Vernon and Dilen to get on top of his shoulder pain. His treatment plan has included hands-on physiotherapy and individualised exercises in our hydrotherapy and strength programs.

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