Stop Saying Exercise “breaks Your Knees” FFS
It’s 2022 and people are still saying that exercises like running or squats will “ruin your knees.” And this nonsense needs to stop. Knees don’t work like that. So nothing works.
We’ve looked at running angle before and it turns out that runners are less likely to develop knee arthritis. And the types of knee pain they experience most, such as the syndrome known as runner’s knee, can often be treated with supplemental exercise, especially strength training to correct muscle imbalances.
Take the squat as another example: no type of squat (not even deep squats or squats where your knees go past your toes) is inherently harmful . When doing any exercise, it is important to make sure that you are doing it correctly and that your body is ready for the amount of work that you require from it. This applies to mileage as well as the weight of the barbell when you squat and the type of squat you do.
Your knees don’t just wear out over time
So, if exercise doesn’t mess up your knees, why are so many people saying it will? I suspect a big part is that exercise, like nutritional advice, is where people like to feel smug about their own choices and express it by criticizing others.
But when it comes to knees in particular, one of the main reasons is probably the way arthritis has been historically described. Osteoarthritis, which probably affects half of all adults in their lifetime, has been described as “wear and tear” arthritis and tends to occur in older adults. For decades, it was believed that the joints wear out little by little, and if the cartilage wears out enough, arthritis develops and the knees hurt.
If you accept this story – what not to do – the consequences are clear: the less you use your knees, the better. The less impact, the better. And once your knees start hurting, you better stop using them. Give up exercise, sit down and accept your fate.
But this story does not stand up to scrutiny. Osteoarthritis scientists have a lot of theories about what might actually be going on, and they don’t think that cartilage just wears out like old tires. The disease process includes processes occurring in the bones, ligaments and joint capsule; it’s Complicated. And exercise seems to help .
The American College of Rheumatology and Arthritis Foundation wrote in a 2019 guideline that “exercise is highly recommended” for people with osteoarthritis of the knee (as well as the hip and hand). People who exercise tend to see an improvement in their symptoms. They note that most exercise studies have included walking and other cardio exercises, but strength and neuromuscular exercises have also been shown to be effective. They recommend that patients choose an exercise that they enjoy and that is not too painful to begin with.
How to Use Knee Care Exercises
Does this mean you will never injure your knees while exercising? Unfortunately, pain and injury are a part of life, whether you exercise or not. You can twist your knee by stepping into a gopher hole while running, but then again, you can decide not to play sports and twist your weakened knee by stepping into a backyard gopher hole.
It is well known that a strong body is less prone to injury. Any exercise, including cardio, such as running or swimming, will strengthen your muscles somewhat. Strength training works especially well, as the name suggests, and there is plenty of research linking strong legs to better joint health. First, strong muscles can help stabilize the knee joint.
And when it comes to cardio, you may have more options than you think. If your knees hurt, it’s common to go swimming or cycling, as these activities are thought to be less harmful than running. But one idea about why exercise helps with osteoarthritis is that repeated exposure to running actually helps knee cartilage get nutrients to repair itself . Cartilage does not have blood vessels like most of our tissues, but repeated steps can compress it like a sponge, bringing in and taking out nutrients and waste.
Another type of exercise worth trying is neuromuscular training , which strengthens the muscles around the knees and also gives your body a chance to practice fast movement and adjust to changes in movement. Squats, lunges and jumps are often included. One good source of neuromuscular training programs is the Fittoplay website, which has exercises for people involved in a variety of sports. Another program,Nemex , has exercises for beginners that may be more suitable for those starting from scratch. (They recommend seeking advice from a physical therapist or other professional to find out what works best for you personally.)
What to do if your knees hurt after a workout
Even if you take good care of your knees, sometimes they can hurt. One funny thing about pain is that it’s not really a feeling of damage to our body; pain is a perception , and it is shaped by many other factors, including our expectations. Think of times when you hurt yourself during an activity or stressful event and didn’t realize it until late; or maybe you had the opposite experience, where you worried about an injury only to notice that it became less painful after the doctor looked at it and said you’d be fine.
For the same reason, if you’re experiencing pain or other negative feelings, don’t go crazy and start thinking about all the things that must be going wrong. It’s doubly so if your knee doesn’t actually hurt, but you’re just baffled by the noise it makes or something like that. Knees sometimes crunch, and this is not a problem .
Instead, treat knee pain or discomfort the same way you would any other pain or tingling that you might experience during a workout . Make sure nothing is catastrophically wrong (you won’t train with a broken bone or torn ligament without checking it first), and then see if there’s any movement you can do without pain. Maybe you just need to relax for a few days and then you’ll be good as new.
It also makes sense to use knee pain as a wake-up call to see if you should be doing things differently. I’m not saying that you should switch to swimming instead of running, but rather that you may find that you’ve been running too much lately or that you haven’t been doing the strength training you promised yourself. q do more out. We have an entire guide to dealing with injuries as a runner here that recommends a problem-solving approach. And it will be much better for your health in the long run than throwing your shoes in the trash and telling all the runners you know that they will ruin their knees just like you.