That pain you feel will be gone by tomorrow.

In my years of experience as a rehab chiropractor, I’ve discovered something interesting—nobody really enjoys working on injury prevention. It’s not exciting, it’s not “fun,” and it can feel mentally draining to invest your time in something that may not pay off for decades.

I completely get that. It makes sense, but it’s not exactly practical. Sure, it’s the right thing to do, but dedicating time and effort now for future benefits is hard.

So instead of trying to convince you to focus on injury prevention, I’ll just agree with you.

Injury prevention? Yeah, it’s the worst.

Why would you spend time trying to avoid injury when ONLY 80% of runners get injured every year, and 80% of people will experience low back pain at some point in their lives? The odds of you being in the 20% are so high, right?

Why bother with joint health or strength exercises when ONLY 97% of runners stop running by the time they hit 65? I mean, clearly, you’re going to be part of that 3% who’s still going strong by then!

Honestly, with these kinds of odds, you might as well head to Vegas and bet it all. You’re practically invincible.

So go ahead—up your mileage by more than 15% each week. It’s not like there are decades of research showing that it dramatically increases your risk of injury, right?

Feel free to skip the warm-up too. It’s not like warming up preserves your knee cartilage or reduces the risk of tendon injuries.

And strength training? Forget about it! Who cares if it makes you faster, strengthens your bones and joints, improves your running efficiency, and helps prevent cramps during races? I mean, those weight-lifting runners clearly don’t know what they’re doing.

Oh, and don’t forget to grab another pair of running shoes, maybe add some compression socks and orthotics. Heck, why not throw in a recovery shake, some race gels, and a foam roller? I’ve heard everyone who uses these things never gets injured.

And that little soreness you’ve been feeling? Just ignore it. It’ll be gone by tomorrow, right? Having pain for more than six weeks? Totally normal—just wait it out, and it’ll vanish on its own.

I hope you’re all having a good laugh reading this because, of course, this is all in good fun.

The reality is, thinking you’ll be the exception and avoid injury without taking care of your body now is simply not realistic. And trust me, I’m just as guilty of this in other areas of my life.

We’re all pretty good at convincing ourselves to avoid hard work, aren’t we?

But the truth is, if you want to run and move your body for years to come, at any age, and feel great while doing it, you need to lay the right groundwork now.

Boring? Yep.

Frustrating? Yep.

Annoying? Yep.

A long-term investment with few short-term payoffs? Absolutely.

But is it worth it? 100%.

Most things worth doing follow this same path.

So, it’s up to you—do something, or do nothing.

The choice is yours.

Make Moves,

- Dr. Kyler

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