I have treated many runners who absolutely love their hobby but there’s always one common concern that crops up which is the fear of the potential damage running can have on the knees and how long they can continue running until “the knees pack up”.
Have you ever had this happen- you get into a conversation and you just happen to mention that you run, rather than congratulate you on your amazing hobby they
(usually non-runners) throw a few words of wisdom your way which may not quite be the encouraging, positive response you was after.
“That running, It’s no good to your knees”
” All that pounding the pavement will ruin your joints”
Can you relate to a few of these huh? Contrary to the well-known scary belief that running is harmful for the knees there is actually little evidence supporting this theory.
We are in fact very much designed to run. Going back to our cave-man/
cave-woman days we would actually have to run and hunt down our food rather than have the luxury of driving to Tesco or any other supermarket of your choice!
Try this little experiment at home. Do a quick run, I don’t mean a one miler or anything, just indoors bare footed, up and down, don’t worry, no ones watching! You’ll probably notice that you will strike the floor pad/ball of foot first. Now do the same little jog but this time with your trainers on and you’ll find that it’s the other way around, the heel strikes the floor first followed by pad/ball of the foot.
Running bare foot, pad/ball followed by heel is the desired way to run.
So basically running in trainers has messed up our running gait/style!
Now I’m not for one minute telling you to ditch the trainers and run bare foot as that would be dangerous and can you just imagine the state your feet would be in! Now that would result in some dodgy tootsies!
But it just does just go to show how we have evolved as humans.
Even though the knees do come under stress whilst running, the body is a very clever piece of kit that adapts to this. Studies have shown that exercise may even strengthen muscle, ligaments, cartilage and tendons thus actually protecting the knee.
Whilst running your foot hits the ground at a force equivalent to three times the person’s weight and this goes through the legs so carrying any extra weight can indeed increase the risk of wear and tear.
Bone also remodels itself. Some loading of the joints can benefit us by helping to lubricate the joints. Whilst running there is a high load of stress going through the joints and bone but this may actually help to improve done density providing that you are sensible with mileage, frequency and surface.
In fact being a lazy bones there is an increased risk of 45% of developing
osteoarthritis than those who run. Experts express that there is no link between running and osteoarthritis. Osteoarthritis occurs when cartilage is no longer present acting as a protective cushion to the joints, essentially causing bone to grind/rub against bone.
I’ve even heard healthcare practitioners doing a bit of scare mongering regarding running too.
Below Is a great article that totally debunks the idea that running is bad for the knees.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-4524372/Why-running-WON-T-damage-knees.html
Of course like anything, always listen to your body.
The body is a great communicator.
If you feel the need to occasionally change the surface that you run on do so.
Why can it hurt when you run?
This can boil down to a multitude of things from poor running technique which may be down to body mechanics or just bad habit, ill fitted trainers,
muscle imbalances (very common) or even simply down to over doing it.
A gait analysis is a great way to check your biomechanics.
Tips
- Make sure that the supporting muscles such as abdominals, hip stabilizers, glutes and back are strong as a weakness can lead to over compensation of other muscle that eventually could lead to injury. A lot of the time weak glutes are the issue but don’t getting me started on glutes that’s a whole other post!
- Correctly fitted trainers are essential, this doesn’t mean uber expensive trainers either.
- Strengthening training is key, the stronger the muscles are the less likely it is that the joints will take the full brunt. But make sure the muscles aren’t overly tight as this also can cause tears in the muscle tissue.
- Have regular sport massages to keep the muscle flexible and supple thus
reducing the risk of injury. - Include low impact exercise from time to time such as swimming or cycling.
- Have proper rest days during high mileage training.
- Last, but definitely not least, STRETCH, STRETCH & STRETCH again 🙂
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