Running Doesn’t Ruin Knees—But This Does

[00:00:00] Running will destroy your knees. Your doctor probably said that your non-running friends and family definitely believe it. Every time you mention you’re a runner, someone becomes a knee expert and warns you about the damage you’re doing.

[00:00:11] But here’s the problem. The science says the opposite. Running isn’t bad for your knees. It might be the best thing that you can do for them.

[00:00:17] After running my sub three hour marathon seven years ago, I had nasty knee issues and figured out how to never get it again. It wasn’t from running the marathon or even my normal training. It was from something else that I’ll get into.

[00:00:29] Very shortly that every runner can avoid. Alright?

[00:00:31] The amateur knee experts, every non runner becomes a joint specialist when they find out that you run the same people who can’t walk up a flight of stairs without wincing in pain, and you know, just making noises. When they get up from a chair or a couch, they’re warning you about knee health.

[00:00:46] I told you, I told you about that working out thing. Who told you about that running thing? Doctors who tell you to stop running, never ask you what you’re doing. Instead, they also don’t even know your history. They don’t know what you’re training for your goals. There’s a lot more to the story. They just say, [00:01:00] stop running and what? What? Sit. Sit more. That’s the alternative. Alright. Here’s some research that actually shows it.

[00:01:06] A 2017 study looked at over 125,000 people, runners and non-runners. Here’s what they found. 3.5% of recreational runners had knee problems. 10.2% of people who don’t run had knee problems. 13.3% of elite professional runners had knee problems. Let me say that again.

[00:01:22] Sitting on the couch is worse for your knees than running

[00:01:25] recreationally why think of your knee cartilage like a kitchen sponge. When you compress a sponge, water squeezes out. When you release it, fresh water gets pulled back in. That’s how sponges stay clean and functional and also don’t dry out. Your cartilage works the same way. Running compresses it squeezes waste products out.

[00:01:42] Rest allows fresh nutrients to flow back in this pump. Action keeps cartilage healthy. And I’ll also say that humans were meant to move. We were not meant to sit. Literally, movement means that you, you get these like fluids that run through your body that keep everything moving, like oil in a car.

[00:01:58] And when you sit all day. [00:02:00] No pump, no fresh nutrients. Your cartilage slowly degrades because it’s not getting what it needs. Cartilage isn’t like brake pads that wear down. It’s a living tissue that adapts to load. Gets stronger when you use it.

[00:02:10] Weaker when you don’t. The body. Adapts to what you ask for it. You might be asking, how do I know? I’ve got actually 12 plus years of running, even though I started running about 30, 35 years ago. I’ve been running for the last 12 years consistently almost at least once a week, and have done many half marathons, full marathons, Ironmans, five Ks.

[00:02:30] Documented all on Strava. The last five, six years. I’ve ran pretty much every week.

[00:02:34] And my knees have never felt better

[00:02:36] so if running actually strengthens your knees, why do so many runners still end up with knee pain?

[00:02:40] Because joints are built to move, not sit. We treat joints like they made a glass when they designed to handle load. Your grandparents bad knees. It’s not from running. It’s from 40 years of being on the couch and not actually moving and not actually strength training, et cetera.

[00:02:54] The human body. I’ve said this already, but I’m gonna say it again. It is meant to move. Joints need stress to stay [00:03:00] healthy. It’s biology. It’s not my opinion.

[00:03:02] So how to actually run without hurting your knees? The science is clear. Running helps. But here’s what people miss. Runners who get knee pain aren’t running too much, they’re running too stupidly.

[00:03:12] Here’s what destroys your knees. Too much too soon. So if your weekly mileage goes from zero sitting on the couch for weeks and months on end, years even, and then you want to do 40 or 50 miles because that’s what you used to do before. In like two weeks, you just ramp up to it and that’s about 60 to 80 kilometers.

[00:03:29] For metric people, your tissues need time to adapt. Load management matters more than miles, so you might feel good, but your whole body is like, yo, I can’t keep up! Tendons, ligaments, soft tissue, that’s all the stuff, especially Achilles that cannot keep up. Another thing that destroys your knees. Every run becomes a race. So new runners treat every run like a hard effort. Their knees never recover. Easy runs must be easy so your actual body can recover even if you feel good. And the last reason why is that the same shoes and the same surface and the same speed [00:04:00] will wear you out. ‘ cause you probably just do the same ones over and over. You don’t wanna think about other stuff. You don’t have a training plan. You don’t care wearing one pair of shoes into the ground over and over creates repetitive stress. Your knees get hit the same way every single time because the load is just the same. We need to vary it. We need to do other things.

[00:04:16] Here’s what actually protects your knee. Build slowly the 10% rule. Add 10% mileage per week.

[00:04:22] Let your tissues adapt. The injury isn’t from running, it’s from doing too much before you’re ready. Another thing you could do is make easy days actually easy. Most knee pain comes from never recovering. If every run is medium hard, which is gray zone, your knees are always under stress. Easy running, lets it all repair and recover and get better. Remember, training equals. Work plus rest, not work plus work. The rest is where the gains happen. Uh, a third thing is that you want to vary the stimulus, which is just scientific word for what you’re doing. I use a, actually I’ve got many shoe rotation, but it’s about a four or five shoe rotation.

[00:04:56] It doesn’t have to be that complex for you. You probably want about two minimum if [00:05:00] not three, that have different heel drops, uh, different types of cushioning, different mechanical stress patterns. My knees don’t get pounded the same. Way every day. I do different types of runs. I have a schedule and a pattern and a way that I do a routine, that I do things so that there is no repeating.

[00:05:16] And if you want that, you can get that for free, that schedule so that you don’t. Have any issues with this? It’s a free run, farther and longer training plan that will introduce base training and structure. If you don’t have that, go get that at the QR code here or link below. And you know what? While you’re here, comment, do you have knee pain?

[00:05:36] And if so, have you fixed it? How have you fixed it? What’s your biggest issue? I want to know. I’ll try to answer as many as I can.

[00:05:43] And, uh, back to number four. So the last way to fix all this is to train your posterior chain.

[00:05:49] So you need to go in the weight room. Weak glutes and hips mean your knees absorb force when they shouldn’t have to. Plyometrics, teach your body to handle impact better. Your knees become the last line of defense, not the [00:06:00] first. Also, strides are really good Going into the gym, strength training, or just doing body weight.

[00:06:04] If you’ve never done gym work before or you can’t, body weight squats are fine. All types of movement is absolutely fine. Another thing about strength is your quas, if you have strong quads, they will protect your knees. So squats again are great. Uh, jumping any type of, any type of squat variation, if you have any sort of weight at home or if you can get to a gym. Um, the apply metrics and all that is all in that free training plan that I talked about earlier.

[00:06:28] The link is also below if you wanna get that training plan, the problem was never running on its own. The problem was bad running

[00:06:35] If your doctor, friend, or family member told you to stop running to save your knees, send them this episode, go and get that free run farther and longer training plan so you can get more structure in your running life. Uh, you can figure out base training, et cetera, and you’ll automatically.

[00:06:48] I get signed up for my five minutes or less newsletter that goes deep on stuff like this, VO two Max Temple runs and mental tools to keep that brain right. Keep that mind right link at the QR code here, or get it below in the description. Speaking [00:07:00] of base training, you need that so you can protect your knees.

[00:07:03] You need to slowly build into it 4, 6, 8, 10 weeks before you wanna do speed work and longer runs. I did a deep dive on that at the episode below. If you’re watching on YouTube or if you’re in the podcast, go get it in the links in the show note description piece.