Serious question. Why haven't I met a single runner with bad knees but people who don't run seem to have met enough to be so confident about this? Are there any professional runners with knee problems?
Serious question. Why haven't I met a single runner with bad knees but people who don't run seem to have met enough to be so confident about this? Are there any professional runners with knee problems?
awesome blossom wrote:
Serious question. Why haven't I met a single runner with bad knees but people who don't run seem to have met enough to be so confident about this? Are there any professional runners with knee problems?
They are idiots and running is work so it must be bad for the fatties.
Agree though every time a person tell me running is bad they hobble around and only people I see having knee replacements is non athletic people...I semi blame the lazy doctors to who say if it hurts when you run don't run...Enabling the lazy behavior.
Their knees are bad from lack of use and then when they try to run their knees really hurt so they assume running is terrible.
Quite a few long time runners have knee problems later on but the number is likely far lower than the sedentary crowd.
pounding is good for cartilage wrote:
Their knees are bad from lack of use and then when they try to run their knees really hurt so they assume running is terrible.
Quite a few long time runners have knee problems later on but the number is likely far lower than the sedentary crowd.
+1
Fatties put more weight on knees and hips hence their problems.
People like to hear good news about their bad habits.
They are all old like me. I hit 50 this year, 5’7” 135 so not crazy heavy and my knees hurt for about a day after a hard Daniels Q run. Never happened till 50.
Long time runners don't have knee problems (in general) because if they had shitty knees they never would have been long time runners in the first place. Correlation, causation etc
There is a professor at Maryland, Ross Miller, whose research argues that running helps prevent knee OA.
awesome blossom wrote:
Serious question. Why haven't I met a single runner with bad knees but people who don't run seem to have met enough to be so confident about this? Are there any professional runners with knee problems?
I've known lots of recreational runners with bad knees, including several who have had their running "careers" ended by knee problems. I know that doesn't prove anything scientific, but I can't say I've never met a single one.
And yes, of course the people who are still running have good knees...that's why they're still running! The ones with bad knees are now out of the sport.
awesome blossom wrote:
Are there any professional runners with knee problems?
Current professional runners? No; otherwise, they wouldn't be professional runners. Former professional runners? Lots.
I have run many 120 mile weeks, qualified for the trials and I have terrible knee pain now. Doc says too many miles. I don't necessarily agree, but I'm definitely a runner with knee pain which you said do not exist. I do feel like most people, myself included, were not meant to run marathons.
mine hurt wrote:
I have run many 120 mile weeks, qualified for the trials and I have terrible knee pain now. Doc says too many miles. I don't necessarily agree, but I'm definitely a runner with knee pain which you said do not exist. I do feel like most people, myself included, were not meant to run marathons.
Pretty much the same here. 40 years old, D1 XC, 5,000, 10,000 runner with many 100+ weeks under my belt over years and years. Never stopped running, and still run today.
I am bothered by knee pain and two different orthos plus a PT who is a runner have all diagnosed as too much wear and tear. Still, I wouldn't trade it for the world and will run until I have to cut my legs off.
Honestly, the pain during runs isn't what bothers me. It is the pain when being sedentary. My knees throb when I am on higher chairs, like bistro chairs, and in the car on long rides. Thought it was back related but MRI just shows wear and tear on knees, not back-related.
I was always the most durable runner that I knew, and I think that lack of time off + high mileage over decades is coming back to bite me.
As someone else said, I know many more non-runners who deal with way worse... so...
[quote]awesome blossom wrote:
Why haven't I met a single runner with bad knees... [quote]
Because you haven't met very many runners? I and my running friends keep the orthopedists in town busy treating our various joint problems, including knees. I also know several former runners who have "former" status due to arthritic knees.
One guy in particular was a sad case. He was never super fast; I think his 5k PR was in the low 18s. But man, that guy loved running and racing. He was at every race in town, and every runner in town knew him. He was the unofficial "mayor" of the local running community. Then knee injuries took him out of the game for good. He had multiple knee surgeries trying to get back, but he never could. He still shows up at an occasional race to volunteer or see old friends, but he's in street clothes, not running shorts. You can tell looking at him that it's killing him not being out there.
Former fatty, turned ex fatty, turned runner, turned ex runner due to osteoarthritis.
Running Guyute wrote:
I was always the most durable runner that I knew, and I think that lack of time off + high mileage over decades is coming back to bite me.
Interesting. I was the same way. I never got injured once until I was 28. I could basically do anything I wanted to my body. I would run on cement and consistently put 1200 miles on my shoes. I also wouldn't trade running for not having knee pain, but I sure wish I could tell my younger self to hit the trails and ease off the miles a bit. I never really saw much difference between 80 mpw and 120 anyway.
I'm 60yo and have been running regularly for about 35 years. I was never really fast but had enough stamina to run a marathon OTQ. Three years ago I suffered an Achilles tendon injury that has seriously limited me ever since, and prior to that I had many other injuries from foot to hip. But I NEVER had a significant knee problem--nothing more than very mild tendonitis a few times.
The funny thing is, my knees **look** just awful. My knees are set way to the inside of my legs, so my legs bow inward from hip to knee, then bow outward again through the calves. It looks ridiculous, but my knees have been by far the most durable part of my running gear.
awesome blossom wrote:
Serious question. Why haven't I met a single runner with bad knees but people who don't run seem to have met enough to be so confident about this? Are there any professional runners with knee problems?
I've never met anyone who died from smoking, yet they keep saying it's bad for you.
Of course runners have knee pain. But what make it pain or damage depends on the person. If you know that most knee pain for runners is cause not by impact but the surrounding connective tissue being stressed you can “cure” most of your problems. As someone who thought they had bad knees as a young college runner,but now at nearly 45 years old finding out that the cartilage in my knees is perfectly healthy (had an MRI for another issue) it is clear that running isn’t what really causes pain. A few years ago My right knee would pop very loudly with no real pain,but it was loud and annoying. Simply foam rolling my IT band and quads in the morning and after runs has made it go away. To the point if I take time off from running it does not come back. If I slack for more than a few days while training it will return. It’s all about diligence and dedication to doing what you want to do. The research on sedentary knee replacements compared to athletes is pretty clear.
there are no runners with bad knees because people with bad knees give up running.
+1. My knee joints are fine, but I will suffer stiffness and/or aching around the knees if I don’t foam roll (SMR). I’ll lightly roll before runs as part of my warm-up, and end workouts with a 5-15 minute roll out. I vary the intensity day-to-day, medium to hard. I include 3-5 days of a variety of stretches (really focus on the hips). I’m in my early 50’s. If I don’t stick to this routine, my knees are sore, especially in the low quadriceps area. When I’m consistent with the SMR and stretching, the difference is night and day.
Old is a as old does wrote:
Of course runners have knee pain. But what make it pain or damage depends on the person. If you know that most knee pain for runners is cause not by impact but the surrounding connective tissue being stressed you can “cure” most of your problems. As someone who thought they had bad knees as a young college runner,but now at nearly 45 years old finding out that the cartilage in my knees is perfectly healthy (had an MRI for another issue) it is clear that running isn’t what really causes pain. A few years ago My right knee would pop very loudly with no real pain,but it was loud and annoying. Simply foam rolling my IT band and quads in the morning and after runs has made it go away. To the point if I take time off from running it does not come back. If I slack for more than a few days while training it will return. It’s all about diligence and dedication to doing what you want to do. The research on sedentary knee replacements compared to athletes is pretty clear.
