Is Running Actually Bad For Your Knees? 

Have you ever suffered a knee injury from running?

If you are untrained, overweighted, have anatomical deformites (valgus/genus) , poor running skills, bad gear you might injury your knee. Running is not the problem, the human is.

More people I know don’t say ‘running is bad for your knees’, rather I more often hear: ‘I can’t run; I have bad knees’. I never know what to say. BTW, I have spent a lifetime of hiking, backpacking, skiing and of course running and only had a serious knee problem once about 20 years ago, and it turned out to be viral - Lyme disease. I’m 62 now and still run 40+ miles/week.

I ran 3 times a week and my knees got stiff/sore nothing crazy but spoke to a physiotherapist who told me to run twice a week instead. It did not get better. Then I focused on proper form and strengthening my legs and now I run more than ever before and my knees are in their best shapes ever.

I have arthrites and running keeps pain away. If I stop runnung pain returns quite quickly. So running I believe is really good for you

I run 25-30 miles a week and also on a daily basis. I’m 26 and have been running like this for almost a year. I can honestly say I get no knee pain at all. My feet and toes got banged up when I started and my lower back gets a little sore but other than that running has been very good to my knees.

For people who have been running regularly since childhood, with a normal level of body fat and no physiological issues causing poor alignment through the knee joint, no, running is not bad for the knees. If someone starts running later in life and has one or both of the above issues, their knees are much more likely to experience issues quite quickly, their joints will not be conditioned and they'll likely suffer in short order. The main issue with running if it is used as a single form of exercise is adaptive muscle shortening. I have clients in their 60's who have only used running as exercise for multiple decades and their bodies are in a shocking state of immobility, tight and long hamstrings, calves, thoracic spine. If we want to run we MUST offset this with mobility and resistance/strength training to prevent significant issues later down the line.

My own experience, being an aging runner with arthritis in both knees , validates your argument. I assert there is a "sweet spot" in running training that strengthens the knees while not further damaging the cartilage through "over pounding" so to speak. My endurance has increased and lingering pain decreased through a structured consistent running plan.

Definitely the most common comment I get from people once they know I run! Thanks for sharing

I had a torn meniscus that would lock. My knee locked more when I didn’t exercise. Now that I run every weekday, my knee rarely locks and it has helped relieve my knees arthritis

Love the content, really nice and clear. I was wondering though if it possible to add the sources/articles in the video discription? More as An additional read to the debunked myths than being overly critical

As always a good video. Thank you for laying to rest a well-established myth even among medical professionals and even among orthopaedic surgeons. I have found that people need to realise that running is a skill, like any other which people need to learn, and running as an adult is slightly different from childhood sprints and needs to be "learned". What could also have been helpful would have been the comments of an orthopaedic surgeon and a physiotherapist ( involved in running either themselves or looking after amateur or professional runners) who could have explained the subject in some more depth. But thank you again

excellent topic n video. 👍🙏

Marc, Thanks. Would appreciate a video for running after 50 yrs

A day after a heavy calf workout I ran about 10 miles and experienced a discomfort with my hamstring. During foam rolling I discovered that my calf was so sore I could not foram roll it. Nearly a week later I still have to be careful not to demand too much from my calf or hamstring to avoid further irritation. That said I learned the hard way that one can affect the other quite profoundly.

Great video! Those that aren't willing to push themselves love to put us down.

Really liked your video just wondering what you think about the following: 1: I’m a front toe runner naturally, I find it hard to run on my heels. Just wondering how common you think this is? Adding to this I have clicks knees and do a lot of stop-start running. Do you think the stop-start aspect could be making it worse or maybe the fact I’m a toe runner? 2: what’s your view on barefoot running shoes?

Great video team. Where was this filmed to please?

Pre-pandemic, I would happily say to anyone “I don’t run!” I always considered myself a cyclist and occasional Hiker. And pre-pandemic, I used to wear a knee support on my longer hikes otherwise I’d suffer some serious grief in the knees before I even completed the hike. But along came Covid-19 and the government’s advice to stay at home, except for exercise. I didn’t want to risk any serious injuries whilst out on the bike and end up in hospital, so I started running on the Mrs’s treadmill instead. To be honest, running has never been my thing but I felt the treadmill was the best option until things returned back to normal. Little did I know… I was initially concerned that all this running was going to batter my knee joints, but as time passed I quickly realised that I wasn’t suffering at all. I just assumed that the treadmill was gentler on the knees due to the fact that the running platform does bounce underfoot, acting as a shock absorber. Happy days! As a Strava user, it didn’t take long before I was joining the 5km run challenges. And for the start of 2021, I committed to doing every 5km run challenge. I even did a few longer runs for the heck of it. Come May 2021 the treadmill got buried under piles of junk (as they do) and digging it out became a workout in itself. So I decided to take a gamble and take a run “in the real world”, and have been doing so ever since. I am pleased to say that I obtained all twelve of the 5km run challenges for 2021. So this year, I’ve upped the ante and decided that I’m going to do a 5km run and a 10km run every month for 2022. For a seasoned running, I’m sure that’s nothing. But for me, it’s a big deal. To finish this comment on topic, I’m also going to say “no” to the question of is running bad for you. Since I’ve started all this running, I’m going to say that from my personal experience that my knees seem to be much better than before. I don’t get any grief from my knees when I run, cycle, or even during a hike; which I did before. I can only assume that all this running has strengthened my knees in ways that I cannot imagine. _Great topic GTN, especially to a 53-year-old novice runner like me!_

Usually if I have knee pain from running the underlying problem is that my IT band is tight

Well I mean yeah but... what ARE the knee drills? Like the ones you suggest for practicing form?

Lol, has my fellow South African rubbed off on you guys with the SA brand Versus socks?!?! 🤪🤣

sir, can you help me myself 50 yrs old lady having Ortho arthritis.Should I do running or not .I like running very much but I stopped running after diagnosis of orthoarthitis I am very much confused pls suggest 🙏🙏

Walking is bad for tour knees if you are severely obese. Its all relative. Been through acl reconstruction and ive no issues with my knees, played sports and run for years. Gotta keep.up.rhe strength work though, get those quads, glutes hammies strong to take the load off the joints.

The surface your running on can make a big difference

My knees hurt really bad when I run on pavement 🤕… they are totally fine when I do trails even if it’s a long distance event.

Sure...rub that bone-on-bone contact with exercise so the inflamation incrases with the friction of contact. That increased inflamation is so helpful in slowing down the arthritic porogress, isn't it?

Am really struggling with a knee injury I can't seem to shake, I think it is ITBS.

Haha the add in the middle of this video was “you shouldn’t crack your knuckles that will give you arthritis!” RU-vid can be scary lol.

1:17 so where are the studies?

It must be bad at something as when i was in the gym sauna i had met a 3 blokes over time that use to do daily running in there 20s to their late 40s and all 3 of them had destroyed there cartilage and had trouble running and had leg problems all the time they said to never do it as you will regret it when your older. It could of been the way they ran might of had a bad form or not the right footwear as they do make a big difference when running to help stop long term injuries but it is something i would not do as i already have destroyed cartilage in 1 leg due to accident so i can never run daily as will grind away the small amount of cartilage i have left and leave me with bone on bone when walking or running. Really humans are not evolved to do long running or daily long runs we were evolved to do short to long burst of sprints to help with fight or flight so we can get away from danger in the wild that is why so many injuries are reported by daily long runners and people that do marathon's some people can get away with no injury's but a lot of others wont as we were not built for it. It is the same with are backs we still not fully evolved yet and we are not good at standing right up or siting down are backs are not fully done for the way we live as it is changing so fast due to technology that is why so many people have bad backs we just not evolved fully to adapt to the way we live.

Alot of wear and tear yes I'd say it is

The guy narrating’s cadence is to low. 180 is threshold for elasticity at any pace, which is the key to knee longevity as long as we don’t overstride or heelstrike

Same people that say this stuff either 1. Don’t train at all or 2. Aren’t worried but running but well squat and press hundreds of pounds multiple times a week lmao

My last run around a track I threw up and learned I had food poisoning.. so it’s not my favorite activity 😬🧘‍♀️

You missed consuming dairy in the list of (direct) causes for osteoarthritis

All good friends I have that have ran all there life are criples now. Surely it is pretty obvious running on hard surfaces is bad long term?

Probably an exscuse by people who don't want to run. Cheetahs seem to cope okay. 🐆

It's bad if not trained properly.

And yet the myth still goes on As non runners will not be watching this video 😏😏😆😆

First

TLDR : Not "Bad", just "Dangerous". 😈