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In 2025, nearly one in five Americans made a New Year’s resolution to exercise more. If you’re joining the ranks of people resolving to get more active in 2026, we applaud you. Sticking with a fitness routine improves your health in a myriad of ways. It’s great for your cardiovascular system, and it supports your mental health.
You shouldn’t go from 0 to 60 here, though. Before you get moving, think through a few protective measures. Doing so helps you avoid injury, a huge deal if you want to stay active throughout the coming year.
We can help here. William T. DeCarbo, DPM, FACFAS, and our Greater Pittsburgh Foot & Ankle Center team have extensive sports medicine experience. That means we’ve seen lots of folks who got hurt doing their activity of choice. From the data we’ve accumulated there through the years, we have some guidelines you can use to lower your risk here.
Also, we’re here at our office in Wexford, Pennsylvania. If you want to talk with Dr. DeCarbo to get more personalized guidance for your new workout routine, come see us.
Get the right gear
First things first, protecting your feet and ankles starts with your shoes. Get the right kind of footwear for the fitness routine you’re choosing. If you’re going to try trail running, you need shoes with traction and protective uppers, for example. Or if you’re going to be playing basketball, basketball shoes offer the ankle support you need to lower your risk of a rolled ankle.
Do some research here. If you have a hard time finding out what kind of shoe is best, ask our team. We can recommend footwear that supports your feet and ankles as you work on getting fit.
Start small and slow
It takes time for your body to get used to new activities. Your muscles need time to break down, then rebuild, in order to get stronger. Your tendons similarly need time to get stronger through progressive loading.
Gradually ramping up your activity helps you avoid foot problems like plantar fasciitis, ankle problems like Achilles tendinitis, and other issues like shin splints.
If you’re going to run, for example, start with a mile or two. Then, only add mileage of about 10% per week. Apply this rule for other types of exercise, too. Start with easier workout classes or shorter sessions and then scale up gradually.
Build in time before and after
If you only have 30 minutes to carve out for your fitness routine, plan to have 20 minutes of activity time with five minutes on either side to warm up and cool down. Make sure that time includes some stretching.
This helps your muscles function their best, then recover after. All of this works to prevent injury.
These are just a few general suggestions. If you want personalized guidance to help you prevent foot and ankle injury as you lean into your new fitness routine, call us or book your appointment online today.