Worry About Your Own Knee!

There is perhaps no more common response when someone learns that I am a runner than "Isn't running bad for your knees?"

The question, typically from non-runners, is particularly amusing because they wouldn't show such care for my knees if I played basketball, football, soccer, or lacrosse--all sports that require a lot of running as well as sudden stopping, turning, and torquing in every possible direction. And in those sports, there are also bone-on-bone collisions, the possibility of being clobbered with a metal stick, or being driven knee-first into the ground.

Amateur runner, Marc Parent, writes about this very issue in his "Newbie Chronicles" in this month's issue of Runner's World. (The specific article is currently only available in print.)

So, the short answer to that question about our knees? Yeah, sure. As Parent explains, "Running is probably bad for your knees if you're, like, 350 pounds and trucking as fast as you can every day in dress shoes over, I dunno, rock for six or seven miles at a time. It's also bad, I guess, if you purposely swing your knees into tree trunks and lampposts as you pass them."

Obviously, Parent is being snarcastic (snarky and sarcastic), but the point is well made. Taking the question more seriously, running on hard surfaces, with bad form, insufficient foot support, etc. could potentially harm your knees. But all of those issues are easily remediable.

The more serious threat to your knees: Not running. Whether running or walking, you are likely taking quite a few steps each day. If you are carrying extra weight from lack of exercise, that will take a toll on your knees. And it's a vicious cycle--the more weight you carry, the more your joints will hurt when you run (or walk), the less you'll run (or walk), and the more weight you will carry.

In a definitive study in 2013, published by the journal Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, 90,000 runners and walkers were examined over a twelve year period for signs of leg-related injuries. It turns out that the link between running and knee injuries was totally bogus. Runners, according to the study, had 18 percent lower risk for osteoarthritis and 23 percent lower risk for hip replacement versus walkers.

"Furthermore, the runners who ran the most were at the lowest risk." (Same article by Parent)

The results actually showed the opposite effect--running is good for knee health. Said one expert, "When you use your joint, more of the body's resources get directed to building up and protecting the joint." (Same)

Like everything else, running requires moderation at various points. If you're overweight, don't overdo it. Wait until you get in shape before really ramping up. If you injure a body part, allow it to heal before running on it. If you have a bad ticker, be very cautious about pushing yourself too hard. Buy quality shoes (or gradually learn to run barefoot).

The bottom line: Running is not inherently bad for your knees. In fact, our bodies are uniquely suited, of all creatures, for distance running. If you don't want to run, don't run. But don't blame the supposed toll running takes on joints.