Here in the UK many runners are knee deep in their marathon training for London or Brighton marathons in April. Some are training for the distance for the first time, others have been at it for years. Most will have completed the bulk of their long runs, and many will have had to deal with the injuries and niggles that are all part of endurance running training.
I wonder how many runners will have heard those words of wisdom: ‘running is bad for your knees’?
Most of us I think.
The comment is usually accompanied by a smirk of some sort, or that ‘must be mad’ expression.
Indeed, it’s usually delivered by someone whose experience of running is no more than that failed attempt to catch a bus back in 1980. It’s often the excuse or reason given by many sedentary people for not running at all (they’ll have excuses lined up for all sorts of other physical training too).
Of course, the reality is that most runners will in fact experience knee problems during their years of running; I know I have, so the knee knockers must be right, right?
What’s the truth? Is running bad for your knees?
Actually, researchers at Stanford University concluded ‘no’.
On the contrary, they found that “… while pain does increase with age in subjects in all study groups, there was no progressive increase in musculoskeletal pain in older adults who participated in regular vigorous exercise, including running, compared with those who did not.”
They continued “Initial differences favoring exercisers were shown to be maintained over time. As pain and disability are linked, our findings add to the evidence that morbidity associated with aging can be reduced by participating in regular aerobic activity.”
The full research article can be downloaded here.
So next time you hear “running’s bad for your joints”, don’t believe a word.
And on that note a nice opportunity to make this tribute to Gary Moore.