Top 3 Ways to Prevent Knee Pain with Running
If you're a runner who's struggled with knee pain or wants to avoid it in the future, you're not alone. Knee pain is one of the most common complaints among runners. Luckily, with the right approach, you can drastically reduce your risk of knee pain and even improve your overall performance. In this post, I’ll break down some science-backed tips on how to protect your knees and enhance your running experience.
Understanding the Link Between Running and Knee Pain
A common myth circulating in the running community is that running is inherently bad for your knees. Perhaps you've heard this at a family gathering: "You know, running is terrible for your knees, right?" The truth is that running, when done appropriately, is not detrimental to your knees. In fact, studies suggest that regular running can have a protective effect on your knees and even promote healthier knee cartilage over time.
One particular study found that a history of running is not associated with a higher risk of symptomatic knee osteoarthritis (painful arthritis in the knees). This research suggests that running is either neutral or beneficial to knee health, depending on how well you manage factors like mileage, strength, and technique.
Key Strategies to Reduce Knee Pain and Injury Risk
Let’s get into the actionable steps that can help you safeguard your knees while enhancing your running performance.
1. Manage Your Mileage
One of the most crucial factors in preventing knee pain is how you increase your running mileage over time. Rapid mileage increases are a major contributor to overuse injuries like runner's knee.
Research shows that runners who increase their mileage by more than 30% over two weeks are significantly more likely to experience knee pain or injury. This is why most training plans recommend no more than a 10% increase in mileage per week.
Practical tip: Add up your total mileage from the previous week, multiply it by 1.1 to calculate a 10% increase, and stick to that figure for your next week of training.
In addition to helping with injury prevention, carefully managing your mileage increases allows your body to gradually adapt to the increased workload, making you a stronger and more efficient runner in the long term.
2. Strengthen Your Knees
Strength training is vital to protecting your knees, and it’s something that many runners don’t prioritize enough. Strengthening the muscles around your knees can significantly reduce your risk of injury, especially as you age.
For women, in particular, research shows that age-related strength loss in the muscles surrounding the knees can increase the risk of knee pain and injury. By incorporating regular strength training into your routine, you can maintain muscle strength and joint stability.
Key exercises:
Squats
Lunges
Split squats
These exercises target the muscles around your knees and should be performed 1-2 times per week to ensure your muscles stay strong.
3. The Role of Tendon Health in Running Performance
In addition to muscle strength, tendon health plays a huge role in both injury prevention and running performance. Strong, stiff tendons are essential for efficient running. While "stiff tendons" might sound like a bad thing, they’re actually beneficial for runners because they store and release energy with each stride, improving your running economy.
Running economy is a measure of how efficiently your body uses energy while running at a given pace. Elite runners often have similar VO2 maxes (a measure of aerobic capacity), but their running economy is what sets them apart.
The takeaway: Strong tendons reduce your risk of injuries like runner’s knee, IT band syndrome, and Achilles tendonitis, and they help you run faster with less effort.
4. Debunking the Running Myth: Running Isn’t Bad for Your Knees
Let’s revisit the myth that running damages your knees. According to a variety of studies, running is not linked to a higher risk of knee osteoarthritis (arthritis in the knee joint). In fact, moderate running may have a protective effect on knee cartilage, helping to keep it healthy.
This means that as long as you manage your mileage and incorporate strength training, running can be a safe and healthy activity for your knees, even as you age. If you’ve been avoiding running due to fear of long-term knee damage, you can rest easy knowing that the science says otherwise.
5. Strengthening the Entire Kinetic Chain: It’s Not Just About the Knees
It’s important to understand that your knees are part of a larger chain of muscles, tendons, and joints, all of which need to work together for injury prevention. Your hips and ankles play key roles in supporting your knees, and weakness or mobility issues in these areas can contribute to knee problems.
For example, a study found that people with reduced ankle mobility (often from past ankle sprains) were more likely to experience knee pain later on. Similarly, weak hip muscles can lead to poor knee alignment and increase the risk of injury.
What to do: Incorporate exercises that improve both ankle mobility and hip strength to ensure your entire kinetic chain is strong and functional.
Key exercises:
Hip bridges, deadlifts and clamshells to strengthen your glutes
Balance exercises to enhance ankle mobility and strength
6. Running Isn’t Just About the Body—It’s About Longevity
As runners, we often focus on immediate goals like completing a marathon or hitting a new personal best. But it’s just as important to think about running in the context of long-term health and longevity. You want to be able to run pain-free not just today, but well into your 80s and beyond.
By following the tips laid out in this post—managing your mileage, incorporating strength training, improving tendon health, and addressing the full kinetic chain—you’re setting yourself up for a lifetime of healthy, pain-free running.
Putting It All Together: Your Knee Pain Prevention Toolkit
Here’s a summary of the steps you can take to reduce your risk of knee pain and injury, both now and in the future:
Don’t increase your mileage by more than 30% in two weeks. Stick to a safe 10% increase per week.
Strengthen your knees with exercises like squats, lunges, and split squats, 1-2 times per week.
Improve tendon health with regular strength training to enhance your running economy and reduce injury risk.
Take comfort in the fact that running is not bad for your knees. Studies show that running is either neutral or beneficial for knee health.
Focus on the entire kinetic chain, incorporating ankle mobility and hip strength exercises to support your knees.
By following these guidelines, you’ll not only reduce your risk of injury, but you’ll also enjoy enhanced running performance and greater longevity in the sport you love.
Want to Learn More?
If you found this content helpful and want to dive deeper into how to use proper strength and mobility to support your running, I’ve got something for you! You can download my free Strength Training for Running Guide, packed with practical exercises and tips to help you stay strong, injury-free, and perform at your best.
