Training and injury profiles of international race walkers

Race walking is an endurance event with technical rules that make it an abnormal form of gait. The purpose of this retrospective study was to survey training habits and injury prevalence amongst international race walkers. Self-administered questionnaires were provided in English, French, German, Russian and Spanish to race walkers at various international competitions and via email. The questionnaire was designed to record the athletes’ competitive performances, typical training practices, and injury locations and occurrences. Questionnaires were completed by 112 race walkers from 28 nations. On average, men covered 125km of race walking across nine weekly training sessions, while women covered 84km across seven sessions. Aside from these specific race walking sessions, most athletes also took part in running (80%) and resistance training (64%). The most commonly used training surfaces were roads (98%) and athletics tracks (68%). Injuries to the hamstrings, knees, feet and shins were the most frequently reported and in more than half of cases required medical treatment and / or time off training. In conclusion, race walking requires a great volume of training and there is a consequential risk of overuse injuries. It is possible that, as shown by other research, the frequent injuries to the hamstrings and shins are partly a result of the technique used.