Myth Busting March: “Running is bad for your knees”
The final segment of our myth busting series is focused on a common myth surrounding the popular exercise - running!
Running has often been associated with knee pain and people assume that it’s the root cause, however, there is often more to the story - so let’s dive into more detail…
What could cause knee pain during running?
Because running is what we consider a high impact sport, there is more pressure going through the joints, if your body is not used this style of exercise then it will be a shock to the system and your joints may not like it. Often we see this when people start running for the first time or after a long break, you are making your joints work in a different way and so they react which can sometimes cause pain.
Another cause of knee pain when your run can be that the muscles used most i.e. your hamstrings, quadriceps, calves and glutes are weak and so the knee takes more pressure. Fortunately this is easily remedied by incorporating more strength and conditioning work into your weekly routine!
Flexibility and tight muscles are another common cause, when the muscles in your lower body are tight, it can restrict your movement which then places more stress on the joint. It is for this reason that warm ups, cool downs and additional recovery techniques are so important for all forms of exercise!
How can I prevent knee pain when running?
To avoid stress on the joints including hips and lower back, we recommend these 3 things as a starting point:
1. Start Slow
Often people decide they want to start running and go out attempting to do a long run straight away. If your body isn’t used to this or hasn’t had time to adjust, then it’s going to be too much stress for it.
Start light with just a mile or so, then start building up over a couple of weeks. Letting your body settle in to regular high impact exercise will place less pressure on the joints and prevent injury.
2. Warm up, run, cool down, repeat
Skipping your warm up and cool down is one of the biggest mistakes you can make, whatever form of exercise you are doing. You need these elements to help prepare the body and to recover in order to keep the body injury free and working well.
Your warm up should include a mixture of dynamic stretches and muscle activations to prepare the body, your cool down should include static and dynamic stretches and optional extras such as foam rolling. If you are unsure about these, speak to a personal trainer who can help!
3. Strength and Conditioning
In order to build more stability through the joints and reduce tightness, you need to be incorporating sufficient strength and conditioning work into your weekly workouts to develop the muscles.
This does not need to be everyday and it doesn’t need to be all of your workout, but if you can dedicate 20-30 mins, 2-3 times a week then your body will be in a much better position to take the impact of running and will feel stronger!
Take a look at this post on strength and conditioning for runners:
https://www.elevatefitness.uk/blog/conditioning-work-for-runners
It’s important to note that if you have had a previous knee injury or you have a weakness in the knee joint, then running might always cause some discomfort and it may not be the right form of exercise for you.
More often than not, people assume running is causing their knee pain because that’s when it hurts, but it’s important to look into the underlying issues that could be contributing to the discomfort.
