Steve Gravina: Why Runners Get Injured & How to Stay Healthy

This week we're joined by Steve Gravina, Clinical Director at Front Runner Physiotherapy, who brings over 18 years of experience working with athletes, including eight years in elite AFL with the West Coast Eagles.

For anyone serious about their running, this is an episode well worth your time.

Having both spent far too much time on Steve's treatment table over the past 12 months, Ryan and Dean take the opportunity to pick his brains on just about everything runners should understand about injuries, rehabilitation and, most importantly, how to avoid ending up injured in the first place.

Some of the highlights from the conversation:

🦴 Bone stress injuries & returning to running – Why bone injuries can take weeks to reveal themselves, the dangers of progressing too quickly and how to safely rebuild training without risking another setback.

🚦 Niggle or injury? – How do you know when discomfort is a normal part of training versus a warning sign that something isn't right? Steve shares a practical framework runners can use to assess their symptoms.

📈 Training load & injury prevention – Why gradually increasing mileage isn't necessarily enough to protect you, how accumulated fatigue catches up with runners and why recovery is just as important as the training itself.

🏋️ Strength training for runners – How often should we be in the gym? How heavy should we lift? And what does an effective strength programme actually look like for someone whose priority is running?

🧠 The psychology of injury – A fascinating discussion on how prolonged injuries can change the way our brain processes pain, why pain doesn't always mean ongoing tissue damage and the mental challenges of being sidelined.

👟 Super shoes & changing injury patterns – Steve shares some interesting observations from the clinic about an apparent increase in bone stress injuries around the hips and pelvis, and whether modern footwear could be playing a part.

😴 The fundamentals of staying healthy – Sleep, nutrition, training surfaces, shoe rotation, mobility and the habits Steve believes make the biggest difference to long-term consistency.

We also hear about Steve's time behind the scenes at the West Coast Eagles, including how elite sporting teams make decisions around injured athletes and some surprisingly quick (and not so quick!) 2km time trials.

The biggest takeaway? There's far more to staying injury-free than simply managing your weekly mileage. Understanding how your body responds to training, recognising early warning signs and building the capacity to tolerate load are all crucial to long-term improvement.

Whether you're currently injured, navigating a return to running or simply trying to string together consistent months and years of training, there's plenty to take away from this one.

A huge thanks to Steve for being so generous with his time and knowledge, and to everyone who submitted questions!

🎧 Enjoy the episode, and let us know your biggest takeaway in the comments!