knee pain in runners

Anterior knee pain, or knee pain over the front of the knee, is a very common malady with runners. It generally results from too much strain being placed across that joint by the quadriceps taking too much force on impact. While this injury can be very painful and limit the ability to run effectively, it is generally non-surgical and can be treated and prevented.

Strengthening the hips: Increasing the strength of the glute muscles aids in force production and force absorption that decreases the stress on the knees. Perform band walks, bridges, bird dogs and proper squats/lunges to strengthen the hips.

Strengthening your core: Core strength helps with maintaining your hip alignment and posture. When you tire, your body is not maintaining form and other muscles have to work harder. Perform various plank variations and bird dogs to increase your core strength and endurance.

Running mechanics: Having your form assessed can see if there is anything wrong with your gait that is predisposing you to knee pain. There are also numerous books and blogs about how to improve your running gait. There are a few consistencies: run at 90 steps per minute, this means decreasing your stride length and increasing stride frequency. Along with this is landing with your foot under your hips which puts you in a good position to push off again.

Ice: Ice after a run can help calm down any discomfort.

Monitor your volume and intensity. Training too hard too quickly is a sure fire way to end up in pain, so make sure that you increase gradually.

Working on strengthening up the chain helps to increase strength and decrease impact across the knees. Add these in to your routine and your pain should decrease.