Do pro's not have the knee injuries we do?

I don't think that you are right.

I seldom hear of any runners sidelined by knee injuries.

i think many casual runners get knee problems from

1. being overweight

2. bad biomechanics

which should for the most part be non-issues for pros

Statistically, knees are the most common locations of running injuries. It's mostly runner's knee.

Why don't pros have this problem? The main causes are muscular weakness/imbalance (obvious), running mechanics (higher forces, more work). Pro runners are genetically lucky, probably have naturally good running mechanics, don't weigh very much, and work on this stuff from a young age--coaches are always watching for issues and strength coaches/pts/chiros probably sport muscle imbalances for them. Still, I'm sure many pros are sometimes sore in the morning.

big watch guy now wrote:

Statistically, knees are the most common locations of running injuries. It's mostly runner's knee.

I have heard things like this, but whenever I've known anyone that is injured, it's never been a knee injury.

I just Googled "average marathon finishing time" and learned that it is between 4 and 5 hours. So if you consider that "most" "runners" are finishing marathons in over 4 hours, then I totally believe that there would be a fair amount of knee injuries out there. I think that you see them in people who are underprepared and forcefully slogging through more miles than their bodies can handle though.

The current Spanish XC champion, 2nd fastest ever spanish half marathoner with 60:00 flat, was sidelined due to a knee injury for 1 year and a bit.

It's just the natural selection process.

Good runners don't have bad knees because they wouldn't be good runners in the first place with bad knees.

Running for 36+ years and I have no issues.

If I would have had issues I probably would not run anymore. I think it is as simple as that.

Flawed premise - pros hurt their knees all the time. They do get runner's knee and other things, though anyone who'se been running a while isn't going to get the same knee soreness as an overweight beginner.

Patellar tendinitis ended Shalane Flanagan's career, and I'd count that as a knee injury.

My theory is knee pain is primarily caused by overstriding (Landing with your foot slightly in front of your Center of Gravity.. you typically heel strike when you do this as well). This causes a 'braking' action which is a lot harder on your body because your knees have to absorb that force. Combine that with weighing 60-100 pounds more and less training history to strengthen the muscles, tendons, and joints... and you have knee pain. (But there's also many different types of knee pain so this theory is very general... knees collapsing inwards while could be another cause of pain.) But I find new runners get lower medial shin pain far more often than knee pain. I don't know why. Overpronation is likely part of it... maybe an underdeveloped soleus muscle.. idk.

Many pro runners knees are shot by the time they reach their 50s. Thank goodness for knee replacement surgery, baby.

I have 45 years of daily running and about 60K lifetime miles so far. I'm probably more durable than some but certainly not elite or gifted. The knee is a very complex joint and when fatigued like during a very hard long workout or when direct pressure is applied it "tracks" incorrectly which causes irritation, pain, and in some cases a feedback cycle of your stride being off and further alignment problems. As others have advised strengthening the tendons and ligaments that control how the kneecap tracks through your gait cycle is very helpful but not something you should really do in the midst of an injury. I've also noticed that if I kneel and place any significant amount of weight directly on the kneecap it can lead to some pain when running which normally resolves itself in a day or so. In addition to strengthening your biomechanics play a big role specifically the position of your foot on the ground. Many of us strike the ground with our heels unless running very fast and this probably stresses the knee more than if we struck more midfoot. I choose not to attempt to change my stride as the bad habits are pretty ingrained at this point but I am religious about throwing away running shoes when the harder rubber wears through to softer EVA as I take this as a sign that the angle my foot hits the ground is "out of alignment." Pros don't become pros without some significant degree of resiliency although some do have career ending knee injuries

Mounty Pylon wrote:

I don't think that you are right.

I seldom hear of any runners sidelined by knee injuries.

I agree, I don't remember anyone on my college team having a significant knee injuries - or anyone in my subsequent running groups. Feet (plantar fasciitis, etc), achillies, tibial stress fractures, IT band, hamstring - are the ones which I can recall being significant enough to sideline my team mates (and me).

I don't doubt some pros or college athletes would have knee injuries, but in my experience that is more of an injury for people who take up jogging for recreation.

Yeah my career was ended by calf and achilles issues. Other people plantar, other people sciatica. In my personal circle of runners no knee injuries.

Ho Hum wrote:

Flawed premise - pros hurt their knees all the time. They do get runner's knee and other things, though anyone who'se been running a while isn't going to get the same knee soreness as an overweight beginner.

Patellar tendinitis ended Shalane Flanagan's career, and I'd count that as a knee injury.

Yeah after she was like 40 yo and wrung out like a filthy dishrag...

That's what took out Adam Gaucher.

I ran P5, NCAA individual qualifier and such, and have had a pretty good post-collegiate career so far. I've had maybe 6 or 7 'injuries', all pretty minor things lasting a week or at most a month and no stress fractures or longer lasting things like that. My first injuries I ever had, which was in college, was plantar fasciitis in both feet but one was one year and the other was the next year. Other injuries have been achilles related. Only once was my knee the problem, it was from an inflamed fat pad or something like that.

From what I've seen achilles injuries and stress fractures are the two most common things that sideline top level runners. And it seems the people who get stress fractures often have more than one in their career, not very often does someone only have one (unless their career is barely getting started). I assume this is a bone density problem but can't say for sure.

If you work a desk job I think a lot of injuries are from tight hamstrings from sitting most of the day. It can give you problems with your knee and lower back/hip area when running.