There’s almost nothing easier than throwing on a pair of trainers and starting a road run right from your doorstep. But unless you live in a particularly great location, those runs probably trend toward boring, and over time, they could actually harm your health in a few sneaky ways.
Donning a pair of trail runners and traveling to an off-road trailhead, though, not only mitigates those risks but also offers significant benefits for both your health and your running performance. Here are four reasons to take up trail running this season and three precautions to take if you do.
Why Trust Us?
ACTIVE.com's editorial team relies on the knowledge and experience of fitness and wellness experts, including competitive athletes, coaches, physical therapists, nutritionists, and certified trainers. This helps us ensure that the products we feature are of the highest standard. Collectively, the team has spent countless hours researching equipment, gear, and recovery tools to create the most accurate, authentic content for our readers. Customer satisfaction is also a key part of our review process, which is why we only feature highly rated products.
Lighten Your Load
If you’ve ever suffered a tibial stress fracture, Achilles tendinopathy, or a searing IT band, you may find your way back to running if you stop pounding the pavement and head out to your local trail. Recent studies have confirmed decades-old findings that increased ground reaction forces from running on pavement can lead to these injuries, especially among rear-foot strikers.
Not only do harder surfaces create higher impact forces, but running on an unchanging surface creates the same type of loading step after step, which can increase your chances of suffering a repetitive motion (AKA “overtraining”) injury.
Precaution: While trail running can ease impact forces and certainly change up your running mechanics, navigating that softer, uneven terrain comes with its own risks. Avoiding trips, falls, and ankle rolls over rocks and tree roots will require you to pay attention to each step, and flying downhill is ill-advised if you want to avoid knee injuries. Ease into this. Start with a short run on an easy trail (try Strava or AllTrails to find one), and add mileage and technicality as you build your trail fitness and confidence.
Breathe Easier
I had never had breathing issues until I started training for my first marathon years ago. I lived in St. Paul, MN, at the time, and the vast majority of my training runs happened on pathways within 50 feet of major streets or highways. One day, as I wheezed after a long training run, it dawned on me: all this running wasn’t making me healthier, it was actually harming me.
If you regularly run in an urban setting, do your lungs a favor and get out of there once or twice a week, especially on your long training days. Science has shown that trees remove literal tons of pollution from the air – millions of tons each year, according to US Forest Service research. This is especially true for PM2.5 particles, those tiny particles that can seep deep into the lungs, making them especially dangerous to runners and other outdoor athletes.
Precaution: Even in the heart of the Chippewa National Forest, where I currently live, there are days when the trees are no match for the volume of wildfire smoke that comes rolling in more and more frequently. Chronic exposure to air pollution can be disastrous for lung health, and even moderate, infrequent exposure among runners has been shown to affect subsequent running performance negatively. So, always check the air quality index (AQI) where you plan to run, and don’t assume that being surrounded by trees will automatically protect you. If the AQI is anything other than “Good,” change your workout plans and stay indoors.
Challenge Your Body
Running over varied terrain is good for more than just your bones and joints. Trail running challenges multiple body systems that road running does not. The small stabilizers in your feet, ankles, and lower legs are called on to make micro-adjustments with each stride.
Your proprioception (sense of balance) – and your core musculature – are engaged more fully to maintain balance. Your audio and visual senses are heightened, working in concert with your brain to maintain awareness of and focus on your surroundings. Oh, and traversing all those hills up and down challenges your leg muscles and provides built-in aerobic intervals. Will you burn more calories per mile? Most likely!
Precaution: While being far from civilization has definite benefits, there are drawbacks, too. Getting lost can be a real risk, especially in unfamiliar areas with poor or no cell service. Then there may be noxious plants, like poison ivy or wild parsnip, to contend with, not to mention the possibility of running into wild animals (I’ve had encounters with bears, badgers, and many, many ticks on my local trail).
The safest way to run in the woods is with a partner, but at a minimum, you should let someone know your planned route with your expected start and finish times, and carry a small pack containing extra water, a snack bar, a first aid kit with a thermal “space” blanket, and bear/pepper spray. Opting to go out only on well-marked and well-maintained trails is also a no-brainer.
Free Your Mind
If you’re looking for a “total package” workout, trail running is as good for your mental health as it is for your body. Engaging with nature has been scientifically shown to reduce stress, improve your mood, and even quiet that negative voice in your head that worries about everything.
Running itself has significant mental health benefits, so when you combine the two, you’ve got the recipe for a mood-boosting, stress-busting micro-vacation that is good medicine for both body and soul.
Happy trails!