Cornerstone: A Collection of Scholarly and Creative Works for Minnesota State University, Mankato
Abstract
Runners often self-diagnose and treat injuries (Russell & Wiese-Bjornstal, under review), and report beliefs about injuries unsubstantiated by research (Saragiotto et al., 2014a). Scheufele and Tewskbury (2007) suggest the way media sources frame a story can influence consumers’ interpretation, for example, what runners read in magazines can influence their beliefs about injury. This study’s purpose was to determine what running magazines present as strategies for injury prevention and treatment. Results of a content analysis revealed summaries of research and advice from coaches as the most common sources of evidence. The most frequent prevention and treatment strategy was stretching. Rarely were avoiding overtraining or seeking medical care/advice suggested. Consistent with framing theory, information in running magazines is similar to what runners have identified as the common causes of injury (Saragiotto et al., 2014a), yet some of these injury treatment and prevention beliefs are unsupported by research (Saragiotto et al., 2014b)