By Dr. Shayne Kelly, DO — Fellowship-Trained Sports Medicine Surgeon · Tri-City Orthopedics, Kennewick, WA
A graded walk-jog progression for getting back to running after injury or surgery — without flaring things up on the way.
Start this program only when Dr. Kelly or your physical therapist has cleared you to run AND you can walk briskly for 30 minutes without pain or a limp. This is a standard published walk-jog progression used in sports medicine — your care team may modify the stages for your specific injury or surgery.
• Run every OTHER day at most — rest or cross-train (bike, pool) between run days.
• Easy, conversational pace on a flat, forgiving surface. No hills, no speed work until the ladder is complete.
• Pain rule (the Silbernagel pain-monitoring model): pain up to about 5 out of 10 during a stage is acceptable IF it settles back to your usual level by the next morning and isn't trending worse week over week.
• If symptoms flare or last into the next day, take an extra rest day and DROP BACK ONE STAGE — the ladder is not a race.
Repeat each stage at least twice (two separate run days) before moving up. Each session starts with a 5-minute brisk-walk warm-up.
| Stage | Session | Total |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5 × (1 min jog / 4 min walk) | 25 min |
| 2 | 5 × (2 min jog / 3 min walk) | 25 min |
| 3 | 5 × (3 min jog / 2 min walk) | 25 min |
| 4 | 5 × (4 min jog / 1 min walk) | 25 min |
| 5 | 20 minutes continuous jogging | 20 min |
| 6 | 25 minutes continuous jogging | 25 min |
| 7 | 30 minutes continuous jogging | 30 min |
| 8 | Resume normal training — build total weekly volume gradually (a common rule of thumb is no more than about 10% per week), then reintroduce hills and speed work last | — |
Coming back from a bone stress injury or surgery? Dr. Kelly may give you a slower version of this ladder — his schedule wins.
Call Dr. Kelly’s office at (509) 460-5588 if pain is worsening instead of improving as you progress, if you develop focal bone pain that hurts with every step, if you're limping, or if you develop new numbness, tingling, or weakness. For chest pain or trouble breathing, call 911.
Dr. Kelly sees patients at Tri-City Orthopedics in Kennewick.
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