What Runners Need to Know to Keep Their Knees in Running Condition

Running a few miles a day, even at a medium pace is great for most of your body. It builds cardiovascular endurance, helps boost your metabolism, builds muscle, burns fat and gives you energy throughout the day. It can also be very very hard on your body, particularly those knees.

Most of us know at least one or two lifetime runners who have had serious problems with their knees, whether it be replacement or complicated surgery. So how to young people avoid getting into major injuries and even future knee replacements.

First, it is important to know how the knee works. It is connected with soft tissue that joins the femur and tibia. Pain in your knees doesn't necessarily mean that is where the problem is, however. In fact, knee problems are often linked to your feet or hips.

Ligaments in the front, back and sides of your knee connect the thighbone to the shinbone. Tendons which are attached to the muscle, the main one connecting the quadricep muscle to the patella.

The body uses smooth cartilage to keep the bones in your legs that meet at your knees from slamming into each other.

Unfortunately, cartilage wears down over time. Some runners may experience this breakdown of cartilage faster than others.

The cause of cartilage breakdown can be due to any number of factors. For example, age, excess weight, or overtraining can all be linked to cartilage breakdown. It is also important to realize that cartilage cannot heal itself.

Typically, knee pain does not start until a mile or two into a run if it is caused by the iliotibial band, or IT. This band runs from the hip bone to the knee and can become irritated around the thighbone. An IT problem can be slightly alleviated by strengthening in the hips.

Another cause of knee pain is due to pronation. Must runners slightly pronate at the foot in order for their body to observe the shock. This just means that the ankles turn outward slightly which can result in knee, hip and back pain. This results in having a crooked hinge at the knee, kind of like a door that is hanging on one hinge. With proper correction such as extra cushioning or other orthotics, runners can also alleviate some of the knee pain caused by pronation.

So now that we understand a little bit more how the knee works, how cartilage breaks down, as well as the source of knee pain, how might we deal with the problem?

There are several steps runners can take to better care for their knees.

One of the most important steps is strengthening and stretching. One stretch that will help strengthen the quads is to lie on your back and fully extend the leg, then lift your leg straight up toward your head as far as you can.

Another way to strengthen the legs, particularly the inner thigh is to turn your toes away from you doing the same quad stretch. You can also do the same stretch with toes pointing towards you to isolate muscles in the outer thigh.

It is also important to cool down after a run. Simply walking for ten minutes gives your muscles a chance to cool down and can prevent pain throughout your entire body. It is also important to warm up for the same purpose.

Adding ice is also a good way to alleviate knee pain, especially at night or right after running. Ice will actually help blood to recirculation after the treatment which allows invigorations in the cells with oxygen.

It is also important to remember that it is a good idea to cross train. In other words, rather than pounding the pavement with your knees every day, you may want to switch it up with rollerblading, biking and power walking. This way, your knees and cartilage will get a break and they may end up needing less future maintenance.