Will Running Ruin My Knees? (Read 1596 times)

That said I'm looking into quad or other exercises now. What exercises do you do to prevent knee pain?

Squats. Full, ATG (a$$ to grass) squats. One-legged squats are great but a bit more quad dominant. You want balance. A full deep squat hits quads, hamstrings, glutes, hips and back and is GOOD for your knees. It's a myth that going deep when squatting is bad for your knees. It's actually the opposite. When you only do a partial squat, you never transfer the weight from your quads to your hamstrings and glutes. All the shearing force goes to your knees. Go light weight and go deep. Your knees will thank you.

Cycling helps strengthen the knees. If you have access to a stationary bike, that would work too. When I first started running, my knees bothered me. I went to a podiatrist, because after reading a bunch of garbage on the internet, I got the crazy idea that I must need orthotics. I "hand picked" the doctor. He's run dozens of marathons and a few Ironmans. He also happens to be a shoe expert, having worked in a running shoe store while in school in addition to writing articles about them. He said the sore knee problem, in my case at least, was normal for a beginning runner and that it would eventually work itself out. It did. My knees haven't been sore in over a year. He suggested cycling a couple times a week. We didn't even talk about weight lifting except that he specifically suggested to NOT do leg extensions.

It's a myth that going deep when squatting is bad for your knees.

Ahh thanks... was thinking exactly that. Will try light deep ATG, cycling and no leg extensions.

My knees haven't been sore in over a year. He suggested cycling a couple times a week. We didn't even talk about weight lifting except that he specifically suggested to NOT do leg extensions.

It's about a week now and no more pain. Hope it's corrects itself if not I'm going to have to figure out how to do the freezer method.

Riding horses for 12 years as a nearly daily event has hurt my knees way more than running has. I have a lot less problems now that I only run every day and don't ride. (Well unless I sprint down a rather long steep hill...bad idea lol)