Running is bad for women's bodies?

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sc10985
sc10985 Posts: 347 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
A client of mine who is a nurse recently told me that because of the way women's hips and joints are built, running can cause a lot of issues later in life. Examples she gave were developing hip and knee problems, and needing surgery. Does anyone know if there's any truth to this or is anyone a long time runner that can share experience? I wouldn't call myself a real runner, because I only jog on the treadmill lol but I'm still curious.

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  • scottb81
    scottb81 Posts: 2,538 Member
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    Because women have a wider pelvis there is a greater angle between the pelvis and knee than with men. This can cause knee problems, particularly when first beginning. The key is to pay attention to how your body is responding and not push too hard or too far until the structures have time to adapt and strengthen.

    Lots of women run without problems so it is wrong to believe that all women will develop knee and hip issues.
  • meshashesha2012
    meshashesha2012 Posts: 8,326 Member
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    most knee issues in female athletes come from imbalances placed on the IT band because we tend to have much stronger quads than hamstrings.

    keep running but also cross train with weight training where you engage the hamstrings and hip flexors (weighted post parallel squats and deadlifts are 2 examples) and you should be fine.

    basically cross training is your friend

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