How to avoid runner's knee this time...
May 24, 2008 12:47 PM Subscribe
Looking to start running again- it's been 10 years and I want to take better care of my knees this time. What are your favorite stretches and exercises for preventing/relieving patella-femoral syndrome (runner's knee)? and...
What running shoes have helped you- esp if you have a high arch?
I know there is a lot of info out there and I've been researching- but I'd love to know what has specifically worked for individuals...
FYI the type of pain I experienced when I ran 30 mi/ week regularly was a shooting, sharp pain that was probably under the knee cap, but felt close to the surface- especially when I ran uphill/ up steps. The pain was enough to stop me in my tracks when it occurred.
What running shoes have helped you- esp if you have a high arch?
I know there is a lot of info out there and I've been researching- but I'd love to know what has specifically worked for individuals...
FYI the type of pain I experienced when I ran 30 mi/ week regularly was a shooting, sharp pain that was probably under the knee cap, but felt close to the surface- especially when I ran uphill/ up steps. The pain was enough to stop me in my tracks when it occurred.
I am by no means a running expert, but I found that much of my unwanted pains (mostly weird hip pain) went away once I started doing 20-30 minutes of strength exercises before the run. Apparently, stretching before running is a bad idea. I do some situps and simple pilates type exercises, then wall-sits and squats for my legs, and then a series of leg-lifts from the crawling position. I think that the last one, strengthening my butt muscles, is the most beneficial.
posted by pjenks at 1:16 PM on May 24, 2008
posted by pjenks at 1:16 PM on May 24, 2008
I'm a big fan of this book on stretching. It has stretches for every sport.
posted by jayder at 1:35 PM on May 24, 2008
posted by jayder at 1:35 PM on May 24, 2008
I would like to echo that in my experience strengthening helps more than stretching (not that stretching is bad). Whatever you can do to strengthen your legs and hips will help. Squats and lunges have worked well for me. For stretching, you might look for a "yoga for runners" class in your area or DVD.
posted by medusa at 2:40 PM on May 24, 2008
posted by medusa at 2:40 PM on May 24, 2008
Walking lunges
Quad strengthening
Hamstring flexibility
Yoga.
posted by Pax at 4:56 PM on May 24, 2008
Quad strengthening
Hamstring flexibility
Yoga.
posted by Pax at 4:56 PM on May 24, 2008
The good news is that since you're female, and it's been ten years, the cartilage in your knees may have firmed up somewhat. Many late-teen/early twenties women experience softening of the cartilage, and that contributes to knee problems.
Yoga and stretching are great, especially for people whose main issue is muscle tightness, but if you have hypermobility issues, they won't prevent the injuries you're most likely to suffer. People with high arches often have hypermobility issues, and vice versa.
Pilates will help strengthen your core and your hips and contribute to proper alignment. Strengthening one quadriceps muscle in particular, the VMO, helped me tons, and Pilates was the easiest way to do that.
If you've injured your knees before, be very careful about undertaking any sort of weightlifting program, or even traditional bodyweight exercises. If you have an underlying structural issue, weightlifting can cause an injury rather than prevent it. I lift weights, but before I started, I did a few sessions with an experienced personal trainer. She scrutinized my performance of each exercise and made sure that my form was absolutely perfect. I spent a week or two doing each exercise without any weight, and only when I was confident that I was doing the exercises correctly did I add weight.
If you're injury prone, be generous with your rest days. Most online running plans only allow for one or two rest days per week, but I do better with three. According to Jeff Galloway, you can run twice some training days so you get your miles in while still allowing for several rest days, but I'm not that hardcore.
Finally, if you have high arches, look into barefoot running. Most running shoes are designed for flat feet, not feet like ours. Cushioned stability shoes made my chondromalacia worse, and caused ankle sprains as well. My own two feet are the only running shoes I can wear.
posted by freshwater_pr0n at 11:17 PM on May 24, 2008
Yoga and stretching are great, especially for people whose main issue is muscle tightness, but if you have hypermobility issues, they won't prevent the injuries you're most likely to suffer. People with high arches often have hypermobility issues, and vice versa.
Pilates will help strengthen your core and your hips and contribute to proper alignment. Strengthening one quadriceps muscle in particular, the VMO, helped me tons, and Pilates was the easiest way to do that.
If you've injured your knees before, be very careful about undertaking any sort of weightlifting program, or even traditional bodyweight exercises. If you have an underlying structural issue, weightlifting can cause an injury rather than prevent it. I lift weights, but before I started, I did a few sessions with an experienced personal trainer. She scrutinized my performance of each exercise and made sure that my form was absolutely perfect. I spent a week or two doing each exercise without any weight, and only when I was confident that I was doing the exercises correctly did I add weight.
If you're injury prone, be generous with your rest days. Most online running plans only allow for one or two rest days per week, but I do better with three. According to Jeff Galloway, you can run twice some training days so you get your miles in while still allowing for several rest days, but I'm not that hardcore.
Finally, if you have high arches, look into barefoot running. Most running shoes are designed for flat feet, not feet like ours. Cushioned stability shoes made my chondromalacia worse, and caused ankle sprains as well. My own two feet are the only running shoes I can wear.
posted by freshwater_pr0n at 11:17 PM on May 24, 2008
Nthing strengthening exercises like squats and leg presses.
posted by nihraguk at 6:05 AM on May 25, 2008
posted by nihraguk at 6:05 AM on May 25, 2008
Also, for what it's worth, I had PFPS as s child and teenager, ran 30-40 mpw from age 28-32 and now I have a full-thickness tear in my articular cartilage and can never run again. I did all the proper strengthening and flexibility stuff (quads, hams, hip, calves), had the proper shoes, ramped up very slowly, was smart, etc. Sometimes there is nothing you can do.
posted by Pax at 7:15 AM on May 25, 2008
posted by Pax at 7:15 AM on May 25, 2008
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by carmelita at 1:06 PM on May 24, 2008