Saturday, April 02, 2011

Running Is Good For Your Knees (NPR) - I Knew It!!!

NPR ran a great story this week entitled "Put Those Shoes On: Running Won't Kill Your Knees", citing recent studies that show that running may actually be beneficial to your knees. Some quotes:
"In one study, Swedish researchers found that exercise, including jogging, may even be beneficial. Felson describes how researchers took one group of people at risk of osteoarthritis and had them engage in exercise, including jogging. The other group didn't exercise. After imaging the joints of the participants in both study groups, they found that the biochemistry of cartilage actually appeared to improve in those participants who were running. Felson says that suggests that "running is actually healthy for the joint."

"...if you have a relatively normal knee and you're jogging five to six times a week at a moderate pace, then there's every reason to believe that your joints will remain healthy."
 An audio of the article is also available. Check it out!

- SD

13 comments:

  1. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  2. This is awesome! My husband always says that he would go out and run with me if it wasn't for his knee. Now he doesn't have an excuse. :-)

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  3. This article makes me so happy! I get so sick of hearing people tell me I'm going to ruin my knees by running!
    Madeline.

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  5. I agree being a runner for almost 30 years I am 59 now and still running have been sticking to 20k though lately. The only time I have had knee trouble is when I let the speed get out of control on the downhills. So if you can keep your self under control you are probably right.
    If anyone is insterested in Ride and tie the Cool Ride and Tie date and coarse is set you can see it at
    http://ithasnothingtodowithage.blogspot.com/

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  6. Finally! Thank you for sharing this gem.

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  7. Disseminate this far and wide!
    I yearn for the day the casual bystander, upon learning of my chosen sport, does NOT make a comment about my knees.
    My ultra running husband has had 5 knee surgeries - two on one knee, three on the other. Neither were running injuries, and he does just fine running ultras including one 100 miler every year.

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  8. Of course it would be good for the knees. It moves the knees and flexes them. However, this may be a bit too high-intensity for those with preexisting problems. I hope you clear that out.

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  9. I'll print out a copy for the next person who yells "That's bad for your knees!" while I'm running some high peak in the Rockies (that actually happened).

    I can tell of my own accord how something is treating my body. My legs typically feel better now at ~12 years of running than they did when I started, because my mechanics are more efficient and I mantain well (massage, stretching).

    In my opinion, as long as you keep things from getting tight (which causes parts to track incorrectly), then you'll be fine. Just keep the muscles loose, and things will work as they are designed.

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  10. The only time I've had knee issues is when my IT band is tight, which of course is not really a knee injury but a symptom of the lack of stretching. Stretching and using the foam roller always helps to get rid of it. but of course, I'm preaching to the choir in this forum.
    Marco

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  11. Thanks for the post (glad it wasn't posted on April 1st). It's amazing how much heat marathoners and other extreme distance runners get about harming rather than helping their body. Check out my running blog: http://www.gottatryit.webs.com

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  12. Great news! And my wife refuses to run, citing the danger of diseases knees (

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  13. That is good to hear! I just recently started running again after several years of not running at all. I have had some patellar tendonitis in the past & am trying to slowly ease myself back into running.

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