LAST week we discussed the risks and nature of injury in runners, and this week sees us turn our attention to prevention - minimising the injury risk.

In many sports, particularly where traumatic or contact injury is common, prevention is in part about improvement in coaching, modification of rules and use of protective equipment.

Sports such as rugby have shown the way with the introduction of mini-rugby, temporary substitutions to allow assessment of head injuries or bleeding wounds and changes in the rules to minimise injuries in the scrum - particularly to lessen the risk of neck injuries.

Coaches are now much more aware of the inherent risks in their sport and now plan their training programmes accordingly.

In addition, coaches are more conscious of the need to allow an injured athlete adequate time for the injury to heal and the necessity of maintaining fitness during this time.

Good footwear is vital - the best money spent by a runner.

It is worth going to a reputable running shop to find the most suitable shoes for your feet - remember there is no such thing as a standard pair of running shoes.

The experienced staff can check your feet for any biomechanical issues and advise accordingly.

So, one of the best ways to avoid injury is to start without an injury!

Despite the lack of good, scientific evidence, most of us involved in sport still believe in the benefit of an adequate and sports specific warm-up.

This needs to be dynamic - that is with movement - not just standing or lying doing a couple of meaningless stretches. Time spent on stretching and flexibility is time lost from exercise to many runners.

Unfortunately they equate this lost training time with poorer performance, which results in them neglecting the very thing that will help prevent injury.

More training means more repetitive stress and, as a result, more over-use injuries. The biggest difficulty is that the correct amount of training is a delicate balance. Too much leads to over-training and injury - too little leads to under-performance.

One way to prevent this is to alter your training on a daily basis. Try to vary the intensity, time and distance. Introduce some variety in your training with other activities such as swimming and cycling.

Prevent over-training and repetitive strain injuries by avoiding training on consecutive days - this will give the tissues of the body a little more time to recover.

It may surprise you to know that younger sports people, relatively new to the sport, are MORE likely to be injured than the older, more experienced athlete.

The increased time in their sport has resulted in superior muscle strength and co-ordination compared to the beginners. It is particularly important to build up your running distance and speed gradually. Try to follow a training programme - JogScotland have excellent information on their website.

Most of us are aware of how to treat an acute injury with rest, ice and anti-inflammatory medicines.

But remember this "treatment" will at best only get us back to where we were before the injury - in effect to allow us to return to the very activity which caused the injury in the first place!

The time off sport should be used to correct underlying problems and build muscle strength and range of movement.

The National Stadium Sports Health and Injury Clinic is on 0141-616 6161 and www.sportsmedicinecentre.org