Avoiding Runner's Knee Part 2

Dear Runner,

I wanted to talk a little more about Runner's Knee. But, first I wanted to share a something funny with you.

I was out running in a park this weekend, and the trail goes along a lot of woods. I got up to a point where the bushes were thick enough where I couldn't see into them. I heard some crashing inside the bushes and wondered what was there. Here it was a deer running to cross the trail. It almost ran into me. At the last moment, it stopped and turned around and ran back into the woods. How funny is that?

That would have been a hard injury to explain, being run over by a deer.

On to Runner's Knee. There was a study done in 1991, from the Bowman-Gray School of Medicine that studied Runner's Knee.

The study found the basic same causes of Runner's Knee that I mentioned in my last e-mail, with one exception. That exception is when runners run on uneven surfaces, where one leg is going to be lower than the other. Like a beach, or side of a road that is sloped downward.

But, one of the interesting items of the study was that they found that runners who had runner's knee had weak quadriceps muscles. This was the second most common cause of Runner's Knee. The fist being running on sloped surfaces.

The good news is that Runner's Knee can be prevented.

Follow this advise:

1) Don't run on sloped surfaces, especially for any extended period of time.
2) Strengthen your Quad muscles.
3) If you are OverPronating get a pair of antipronation shoes.

The first one is self explanatory.

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.

You can get a good pair of shoes by visiting your local running store. You can also check out Road Runner Sports using this link:

http://tinyurl.com/276pf

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

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