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I'm currently obsessed with a new book called Fourth Wing.
It is about a young girl who enters the brutal and elite war college for dragon riders.
Yet within the first few weeks, she fractures the bones around her knee and shoulder.
While the story may be fantasy, the bone damage to people who start a new program is based on real science.
Have a look at this graph:
Week 1 - 4: During the first four weeks of a new running program, microdamage occurs in the bones as they have to deal with this sudden new stress.
You can see in the graph how the occurrence of stress fractures starts increasing.
Week 4 - 8: The theme song "Danger Zone" from Top Gun starts playing as the natural healing mechanism of bone kicks in, resulting in osteoclasts clearing away any damaged bone.
You can see that these four weeks have the highest chance of injury as bone density is slightly lower.
Week 8 - 12: Once all damaged bone has been removed, osteoblasts start laying new, stronger bone.
Look at how the rate of stress fractures starts decreasing over time.
Week 13+: Most people are in the clear and past the riskiest section of starting a new program.
Main points:
1) Be super conservative in weeks 4 - 8 and slightly shift the focus to strength training until they are out of the "danger zone".
2) Whether you're learning to ride dragons or helping a client start a new running program, decrease training loads by 30% for one week every four weeks.
Complete 2021 study by Kardouni and friends here.
References
Kardouni JR, McKinnon CJ, Taylor KM, Hughes JM. Timing of stress fracture in soldiers during the first 6 career months: a retrospective cohort study. J Athl Train. 2021 May 11;56(12):1278–84. doi: 10.4085/1062-6050-0380.19. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 33975344; PMCID: PMC8675322.
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Written by Kyle van Heerden
Online Educator at Research Raconteur
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