Avoiding Runner's Knee
Dear Runner,
When it comes to running injuries, ignorance is not necessarily bliss. It’s important to know about the common types of running injuries for two reasons: 1.) to help you to avoid or prevent them 2.) to help you to recognize them if they occur and to seek the proper treatment.
While I can’t promise you that your running career will be injury-free, by following my program, outlined in "How To Run Like A Deer", you can definitely decrease your risk of injury. The first step to understanding the logic behind my advice is to gain an understanding of typical running injuries.
Certainly, the most common running injury is what doctors call chrondromalacia patella, known to the rest of us as runner’s knee. Runner’s knee occurs when the cartilage on the underside of the kneecap, the patella, softens and then erodes or breaks down. This usually occurs when the kneecap is not tracking properly. Ideally, the patella (kneecap) glides up and down the leg smoothly, helping the thigh muscles gain leverage as you run or walk. But, a variety of problems, such as overpronation (when your foot rolls to the inside more than it should after your heel strikes the ground), stress caused from overtraining, and weak quadriceps muscles, cause pain, inflammation and the eventually the softening and erosion of cartilage that lead to this injury.
If you have runner’s knee, you may experience pain under or around the kneecap, a clicking or grinding sound when you walk or run, and pain or inability to walk up stairs. If the pain is debilitating or constant and/or you hear and feel a grinding noise, you should see a doctor before continuing to run.
To help avoid this runner’s injury, one that many runners think they will get if they run long enough, you need consider a couple of things
Are you overpronating?
Are you overtraining?
Are your quadriceps strong enough for the distance you run?
Overpronation can be fix by getting the proper shoes.
Overtraining is common among beginners and runners that are looking to increase their distance and/or improve their time. Usually these are runners that start training for a race. You stop overtraining by cutting back on the number of days that you run, or the distance. You should slowly increase your distance.
Even if you fix your pronation or you don't have this problem, and you aren't overtraining, you may still have weak quad muscles. This is one of the most common cause of runner's knee.
Your quad muscles actually help your knee cap to track properly. When they get tired, then it doesn't track properly and that leads to the problem of runner's knee.
The good news is that it can be prevented. Exercises to strengthen the quads are outlined in my course, “How to Run Like a Deer Forever.” These exercises will help you to strengthen both the tendons and muscles around the knee area and the quadriceps muscles, reducing your risk for this common, but certainly not inevitable injury.
And, if you are thinking about or have given up running because of pain or fear of injuries, give my course a try. You can order here: http://www.runningtough.com/order.html.
Thanks,
Jerry Hopkins
When it comes to running injuries, ignorance is not necessarily bliss. It’s important to know about the common types of running injuries for two reasons: 1.) to help you to avoid or prevent them 2.) to help you to recognize them if they occur and to seek the proper treatment.
While I can’t promise you that your running career will be injury-free, by following my program, outlined in "How To Run Like A Deer", you can definitely decrease your risk of injury. The first step to understanding the logic behind my advice is to gain an understanding of typical running injuries.
Certainly, the most common running injury is what doctors call chrondromalacia patella, known to the rest of us as runner’s knee. Runner’s knee occurs when the cartilage on the underside of the kneecap, the patella, softens and then erodes or breaks down. This usually occurs when the kneecap is not tracking properly. Ideally, the patella (kneecap) glides up and down the leg smoothly, helping the thigh muscles gain leverage as you run or walk. But, a variety of problems, such as overpronation (when your foot rolls to the inside more than it should after your heel strikes the ground), stress caused from overtraining, and weak quadriceps muscles, cause pain, inflammation and the eventually the softening and erosion of cartilage that lead to this injury.
If you have runner’s knee, you may experience pain under or around the kneecap, a clicking or grinding sound when you walk or run, and pain or inability to walk up stairs. If the pain is debilitating or constant and/or you hear and feel a grinding noise, you should see a doctor before continuing to run.
To help avoid this runner’s injury, one that many runners think they will get if they run long enough, you need consider a couple of things
Are you overpronating?
Are you overtraining?
Are your quadriceps strong enough for the distance you run?
Overpronation can be fix by getting the proper shoes.
Overtraining is common among beginners and runners that are looking to increase their distance and/or improve their time. Usually these are runners that start training for a race. You stop overtraining by cutting back on the number of days that you run, or the distance. You should slowly increase your distance.
Even if you fix your pronation or you don't have this problem, and you aren't overtraining, you may still have weak quad muscles. This is one of the most common cause of runner's knee.
Your quad muscles actually help your knee cap to track properly. When they get tired, then it doesn't track properly and that leads to the problem of runner's knee.
The good news is that it can be prevented. Exercises to strengthen the quads are outlined in my course, “How to Run Like a Deer Forever.” These exercises will help you to strengthen both the tendons and muscles around the knee area and the quadriceps muscles, reducing your risk for this common, but certainly not inevitable injury.
And, if you are thinking about or have given up running because of pain or fear of injuries, give my course a try. You can order here: http://www.runningtough.com/order.html.
Thanks,
Jerry Hopkins
posted by Running Tips at 9:30 AM
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