Preventing running injuries

starfish90

Hi

A bit of advice needed; I've been running for a few years now and recently started increasing my distances each week. Since then, every now and again I get a sharp pain in my knee-not looking for medical advice of any sort-but I'm just wondering if there's anything people do to prevent knee problems?! I have a good pair of runners, been running for a good few years, all on hard road surfaces.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated

pointer28

Try doing some of your runs on softer, more forgiving surfaces like around playing pitches or even better find some nice trails in your locality.

Chivito550

The best way to prevent injuries is to incorporate core and bodyweight exercises and weights into your programme. The stronger your legs and core are, the more your body can take when running. Many distance runners at club level or below completely ignore this side of training.

starfish90

Sound advice thanks folks, I'll definitely take them on board-in general I know as well that I need to stretch after training too, so easy to just skip it!

sydneysports

hi there,not sure if these works but read it somewhere, is to do exercise that don’t put stress on your knees and incorporate stretching exercises that strengthen the muscles surrounding your knees.

One of the exercises is to do heel slide. It works by getting on your back bending your right knee with your right foot flat on the floor. Slowly slide your left heel towards the floor. Hold for 5 seconds and return to the starting position. Repeat 5 to 10 times on each leg.

martyboy48

starfish90 wrote: »

Hi

A bit of advice needed; I've been running for a few years now and recently started increasing my distances each week. Since then, every now and again I get a sharp pain in my knee-not looking for medical advice of any sort-but I'm just wondering if there's anything people do to prevent knee problems?! I have a good pair of runners, been running for a good few years, all on hard road surfaces.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated

How many runs were you doing each week and what was your mileage?
Are you increasing the amount of runs you are doing, and how much are you increasing you mileage by, and how is it increased(over 1, 2 , or all your runs?) Are you incorporating more speedwork(or even just running a bit faster than usual??), were you running consistently???????
Don't worry, you don't have to answer all those...
What I'm getting at is that from my experience if I do any sudden or dramatic changes to paces/distance/terrain/overall volume the first place I feel it is in my knees. I think of it like a little alarm to pull it back a bit... Even running on more of a steep downhill could trigger it. If you're carrying a few extra pounds like myself it will be harder on the knees...

I'm speaking from my own personal point of view, like yourself running few years...

If you are not doing anything to much "out of the ordinary", I would recommend you see a sports physiotherapist as it could be something else which is manifesting in the knee area....

dublin runner

Best way to prevent an injury? For me it's quite simple. Usually a niggle/discomfort is the precursor to an injury. The trick to not let a niggle develop into an injury. It's a balancing act that comes with a bit of experience and a fair bit of advice from people that know their stuff.

For example I had a knee issue (IT band) very recently . While it wasn't an injury it most definitely was a niggle. I went to a good physio and avoided hill running (especially downhill running), slightly reduced the weekly mileage/intensity for a bit and stretched the right areas.

thehamo

A lot of people find out problems they didn't know they had when they start running. Knee pain from running can be cause by a variety of issues such as (not saying these are yours)

Weak hip stabilisers (outside of the leg, glutes) allowing the Knee to fall inwards while running

Tight TFL resulting in tight IT band which can cause sharp pain in the lateral side of the knee

Tight quads (especially rectus femoris and vastus intermedius) of which the tendon travels over the knee cap

Tight hamstrings (specifically Biceps femoris) can rotate the tibia (lower leg) outwards which results in the knee not tracking properly and causing pain

Tight calf muscles (specificaly Gastroc) can have the same effect as hamstring

Weak VMO (the tear drop on the inside of the knee) can result in the patella not tracking properly thus causing knee pain.

THere are various different problems acting on the knee but those are the most common that ive seen.

Strenghten up the glutes, stretch the hamstrings, use a foam roller on the quads. BAsically dont treat the symptom treat your whole lower body as one unit.

starfish90

martyboy48 wrote: »

How many runs were you doing each week and what was your mileage?
Are you increasing the amount of runs you are doing, and how much are you increasing you mileage by, and how is it increased(over 1, 2 , or all your runs?) Are you incorporating more speedwork(or even just running a bit faster than usual??), were you running consistently???????
Don't worry, you don't have to answer all those...
What I'm getting at is that from my experience if I do any sudden or dramatic changes to paces/distance/terrain/overall volume the first place I feel it is in my knees. I think of it like a little alarm to pull it back a bit... Even running on more of a steep downhill could trigger it. If you're carrying a few extra pounds like myself it will be harder on the knees...

I'm speaking from my own personal point of view, like yourself running few years...

If you are not doing anything to much "out of the ordinary", I would recommend you see a sports physiotherapist as it could be something else which is manifesting in the knee area....

To be honest, I was running every second day nearly over Christmas which was a sudden increase from twice/three times a week-also going further distances each time too! This led to the knee pain which doesn't seem to prevail now that I've cut down again-rest is something I obviously take for granted!
I actually need to put on a bit of weight so I think by swapping some running sessions with weights sessions I'll improve both strength and endurance.
The onset of the pain just triggered the worry in my head that I could be causing future problems but I'll take everyone's advice on board here and should be good-thanks a bunch

starfish90

martyboy48 wrote: »

How many runs were you doing each week and what was your mileage?
Are you increasing the amount of runs you are doing, and how much are you increasing you mileage by, and how is it increased(over 1, 2 , or all your runs?) Are you incorporating more speedwork(or even just running a bit faster than usual??), were you running consistently???????
Don't worry, you don't have to answer all those...
What I'm getting at is that from my experience if I do any sudden or dramatic changes to paces/distance/terrain/overall volume the first place I feel it is in my knees. I think of it like a little alarm to pull it back a bit... Even running on more of a steep downhill could trigger it. If you're carrying a few extra pounds like myself it will be harder on the knees...

I'm speaking from my own personal point of view, like yourself running few years...

If you are not doing anything to much "out of the ordinary", I would recommend you see a sports physiotherapist as it could be something else which is manifesting in the knee area....

To be honest, I was running every second day nearly over Christmas which was a sudden increase from twice/three times a week-also going further distances each time too! This led to the knee pain which doesn't seem to prevail now that I've cut down again-rest is something I obviously take for granted!
I actually need to put on a bit of weight so I think by swapping some running sessions with weights sessions I'll improve both strength and endurance.
The onset of the pain just triggered the worry in my head that I could be causing future problems but I'll take everyone's advice on board here and should be good-thanks a bunch

grahamor

Chivito550 wrote: »

The best way to prevent injuries is to incorporate core and bodyweight exercises and weights into your programme. The stronger your legs and core are, the more your body can take when running. Many distance runners at club level or below completely ignore this side of training.

This is the best advice IMO.

Do some basic pilates moves and get a foam roller !