Knees Hurt After Running. What to do?

xxkmanxx

So I started the new year off right. I started running on the treadmill a lot. I was running about 3-5 miles a day. I was out of shape, so before this I wasn't exercising at all. Last week I ran every day and at least 3 miles a day. Now this week my knees have been huring so much. Did I just over do it, because before this I didn't really exercise. I feel it through out the day. Expecially when walking up stairs. Yesterday I went on the treadmill and jogged or walked fast as I could for 2 miles. I want to keep goin but it hurts. I was running in bad shoes. I just bought good running shoes. So I would like to know what do you guys think I should do. I can power through this and just keep jogging and walking fast on the treadmill. I could also start trying to run outside (no idea if thats better on my knees). Or I can take a break from running and start doing like an upper body work out. A lot of warm ups include knees tho. Like even jumping up and down hurt. So any helpful advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

vespiquenn

So you went from not running at all to running 3-5 miles daily? Yeah, that's over doing it.

Start slow. Just because your lungs are adapting to running quickly doesn't mean that your joints will. You need to tone it back or you're going to be facing an overuse injury which can put you out of commission for weeks to months. Start with about 3 times a week, and don't up your mileage any more than 10% per week.

Edit to add: Also, the shoes you bought, did you actually get fitted from a running store? Shoes make or break a run. If you didn't, I suggest you go and get your gait analyzed from a running speciality store.

leanjogreen18

Please do not power through hurting knees.

I tried the c25k and my knee started hurting, I went 3 more times and powered through it. Next day I couldn't walk. I went to the orthopedic dr and found out I had fractured my tibia just under my knee in additional to whatever I did to my knee. I didn't go back for my MRI on my knee which still gives me problems to this day 4 years later.

Don't do what I did:).

macgurlnet

I'm with @vespiquenn on this one.

Back off of any exercise that involves your knees until they stop hurting. Take it slow going up and down the stairs and avoid those workouts that include jumping, etc.

Once you can go about your day pain free, try running again for a mile or two. Go slow!

And if you didn't get your shoes from a running store, I too would recommend you get fitted - bring the pair you bought with you and they should be able to help you figure out if those are right or if you need something else

~Lyssa

spiriteagle99

Too much, too soon. Rest for a few days. Ice the knees. When you can walk without pain, go back on the TM, but take it much more slowly. Run slow and easy. Start with every other day for a week or two. Then try 4 days a week for another couple of weeks. There is a rule of thumb in running about not increasing your mileage more than 10% a week. Like all such, it is an approximation, but it gives the idea that you really want to be careful not to do TMTS.

xxkmanxx

Thanks everyone for the helpful advice. I'm gonna take a little break from running until my knees feel better. I'll go for a few walks. But is there any decent exercises for beginners that don't involve my knees? Was looking for cardio, but I guess I can try some upper body workouts. Thanks again.

ninerbuff

Sounds like tendinitis. Repetitive movements on the tendons will cause inflammation and can hurt. How do you relieve it? Stop doing it for awhile.
Many people who "restart" exercising unwisely try to do more than their body is really ready for. Stimulate, don't annihilate.

A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

Obxdee

xxkmanxx wrote: »

Thanks everyone for the helpful advice. I'm gonna take a little break from running until my knees feel better. I'll go for a few walks. But is there any decent exercises for beginners that don't involve my knees? Was looking for cardio, but I guess I can try some upper body workouts. Thanks again.

Kman,
I am going through this very thing, although I wasn't "running" outside, I increased my miles too quickly, and I logged 41 miles in a week, when I had been doing 22-25 weekly, treadmill, interval work and inclines. I have been off for a week this Sunday, RICE, rest, ice, compression, elevation, IBU, and now using the elliptical, bike, weights only. I have no pain with elliptical or bike, but terrible with walking and stairs.

Good luck from one over achiever to another!

wcdessertgirl2012

I have been exercising regularly for a few months and have been losing weight, and even more important, most of it is fat and building muscle without running because I have a bad knee and a bad left ankle, even though I ran in high school. I can still run for the bus 2 blocks away (I was always more of a sprinter anyway, but I'm a muscular gal, so I'm not really built for distance running). But I have always been a walker. My routine is walking in the park nearby and doing speed intervals for 30-40 up the hill of an overpass that runs through 2-3, kettlebell workout 2x a week, and Shaun T cardio workouts 2-3 a week. His T25 program comes with a great stretching video that is really good to do a few times a week, especially on days or the day after intense workouts. His workouts can be hard on the knees though.

Once your knees feel better, try intervals on your treadmill or outside. You get way better results without stressing your joints.

mitch16

Swimming, spinning class/cycling, crosstrainer/arc trainer, rowing, and elliptical are much easier on your knees than running (says the woman who is rehabbing after ACL surgery).

goldthistime

xxkmanxx wrote: »

Thanks everyone for the helpful advice. I'm gonna take a little break from running until my knees feel better. I'll go for a few walks. But is there any decent exercises for beginners that don't involve my knees? Was looking for cardio, but I guess I can try some upper body workouts. Thanks again.

Upper body workouts sound great! If you're not already strength training, now's a great time to start.

But there might be other cardio options still available to you, depending on what the problem is. Stationary cycling, rowing, or elliptical could work. Swimming should be fine.

BeeerRunner

You over did it. I've been running over a year, and i don't run 7 days in a row. I run more mileage but only 5 days a week and gradually worked up to it.

I would stop until your knees don't hurt. RICE them (Rest, ice, compress, elevate). Do some other sort of cardio that doesn't hurt your knees, and you may have to try different things: walking, elliptical, cycling, swimming.

When your knees are feeling better, just do a short run. If there's no pain, you can run again with at least 1 to 2 days of non running in between.

Going forward, only increase mileage by 10% each week. So, if you run 3 miles a day for 2 days and 4 miles another day, that's 10 miles per week. You can add 1 mile the next week. You can either add that mile onto 1 of your days or add a 4th day by doing 3, 3, 2, 2 or some version of that. Also, it's a good practice to have a cut back week where your mileage is reduced every 4 weeks.

I would also research running form on youtube. If you are landing with your feet out in front of yoyr body instead of directly under your hips, you will continue to have knee pain. Warming up properly and stretching after runs can help prevent injuries too.

natasor1

Buy patella straps and ware them all day long. When u feel better, u can ware them only during workouts. Stop running, jogging and sideskipping. Instead try moves to strengthen muscles supporting this patella tendons: quads, hamstrings, abdutors, adductors and calves. There are number of assisted movements for all four sides of your legs. For cardio u can do cycling, rowing or eleptical.
Running outside will be even worth than TM.
This is very popular knee problem, and thousand people had it (normally runners, jumpers, tennisplayers). If u seen on TV many basketball players or soccer players ware small patella straps usualy tan color.
Sorry, takes about 4-5 months for tendons repare. This is normal time frame. Much better avoid them. In meantime train more your upper body, abs, back.

pcc0001

Here's a simple solution that works for me.

I rarely jog on the treadmill. What I do is walk on the treadmill at a 15 degree incline at a speed of 4
MPH. From what I have read, this is like 60 % faster than someone jogging at 4 MPH at 0 degree incline ( Google this and you can research this if you want confirmation) . Sometimes I even move the speed up on the same incline to get an even better workout. I do the incline walking to avoid having potential knee injuries.
Try it . It's like walking up a hill for the whole time.

Another alternative is to use the elliptical machine that uses your legs and arms.

Both alternatives will give you a good cardio workout and won't put the same amount of stress on your knees.
Let us know if it works out for you once you rest the knee.

Good luck.

pcc0001

Also if you knee is still hurting , you should see a doctor before doing other exercises that involve the knee.

xxkmanxx

goldthistime wrote: »

xxkmanxx wrote: »

Thanks everyone for the helpful advice. I'm gonna take a little break from running until my knees feel better. I'll go for a few walks. But is there any decent exercises for beginners that don't involve my knees? Was looking for cardio, but I guess I can try some upper body workouts. Thanks again.

Upper body workouts sound great! If you're not already strength training, now's a great time to start.

But there might be other cardio options still available to you, depending on what the problem is. Stationary cycling, rowing, or elliptical could work. Swimming should be fine.

Yeah. I think I should start strength trainning. I've just being running. Thats pretty much it. Can anyone suggest some upper body workouts for a beginner that doesn't involve my knee? I don't want any extra stress on my knee joints if possible. Also maybe some warm-ups. My warm-ups before running always involved my knees. Jumping a lot. And running in place. So I can't do that. Thanks everyone again for all the helpful advice.

Vladimirnapkin

Foam roller on your thighs, paying attention to the IT band, take a week off running, get new shoes from a running store. With both knees hurting, I'd lean towards it being the shoes.

mrcs_jolly

One approach to apply: if it hurts don't do it. There are plenty of other low impact activities that are just as effective. I personally like stairs.

CrabbyCancerMama

I get IT Band pain a foam Roller really helped. it hurts and I was sore as hell the next day but now I do it regularly and it seems to be helping. good shoes, rest, ice. agree you're probably overdoing it

mengqiz86

You need to strength train to strengthen the balancing muscles around the knee. Single leg exercises are MAGICAL for knee pain (speaking from personal experience). Single leg straight leg deadlifts, and Bulgarian split squats (look it up) will fix you right up. Then you can add more muscle building such as barbell squats and straight leg deadlifts (both legs) which can strengthen your posterior chain (back, gluts, hamstrings).
It really is the BEST way to get rid runners knee.

gnheller

My knee problems started 20 years ago, just as yours did. I was a weekend warrior and thought I was still 20. Had 3 scopes in my early 40's for meniscus tears and the surgeon said that I already had end stage arthritis. At 51 I had a major osteotomy to correct the alignment in my left knee. I had my right knee replaced 18 months ago and my left knee 11 months ago and I don't turn 60 until the fall. The moral of the story ....don't be a weekend warrior. Try some less stressful exercises, elliptical or spinning. Talk to a fitness trainer. My knees have never felt better and we will be skiing double black diamonds in the rockies in 3 weeks. I am back on my road bike again and will go for at least one century ride this coming summer. Take care of your knees, surgery is not fun!!

Lillymoo01

I have problems with my knees. My solution. Stop running as you could be doing yourself more harm by continuing. See a physio who can work on muscles around the knee to build up strength, while giving you appropriate exercises. We could recommend exercises but because we don't know the exact problem we could be encouraging you with something thst could do more harm. In the meantime swim as this will help with fitness while taking pressure off of your knee.

Everyone is different but I know I can never run again, nor walk up and down steep slopes. It has been hard knowing I have to give something up but with a knee replacement as an alternative I know which I prefer.

Tum22

xxkmanxx wrote: »

So I started the new year off right. I started running on the treadmill a lot. I was running about 3-5 miles a day. I was out of shape, so before this I wasn't exercising at all. Last week I ran every day and at least 3 miles a day. Now this week my knees have been huring so much. Did I just over do it, because before this I didn't really exercise. I feel it through out the day. Expecially when walking up stairs. Yesterday I went on the treadmill and jogged or walked fast as I could for 2 miles. I want to keep goin but it hurts. I was running in bad shoes. I just bought good running shoes. So I would like to know what do you guys think I should do. I can power through this and just keep jogging and walking fast on the treadmill. I could also start trying to run outside (no idea if thats better on my knees). Or I can take a break from running and start doing like an upper body work out. A lot of warm ups include knees tho. Like even jumping up and down hurt. So any helpful advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

I got bad knees from running and now I just powerwalk or brisk walk outside instead and my knees got better. I tried to run a bit the other day and they hurt for days after so I will not try again.

xxkmanxx

Ok. Thanks everyone for the help. I took a week off running. I ordered a foam roller and got new shoes. I also found some good exercises and stretches for runners knee. Hopfully all this will help. Thanks everyone for the help. Its frustrating when ur trying to be healthy and start exercising and this happens. Hopefully I can start running to my full potential. I know it'll take some time.

Packerjohn

natasor1 wrote: »

Buy patella straps and ware them all day long. When u feel better, u can ware them only during workouts. Stop running, jogging and sideskipping. Instead try moves to strengthen muscles supporting this patella tendons: quads, hamstrings, abdutors, adductors and calves. There are number of assisted movements for all four sides of your legs. For cardio u can do cycling, rowing or eleptical.
Running outside will be even worth than TM.
This is very popular knee problem, and thousand people had it (normally runners, jumpers, tennisplayers). If u seen on TV many basketball players or soccer players ware small patella straps usualy tan color.
Sorry, takes about 4-5 months for tendons repare. This is normal time frame. Much better avoid them. In meantime train more your upper body, abs, back.

IMO, don't put random straps/braces, etc on an injured body part unless you know the cause of the problem. Check with a medical professional and follow their advice regarding straps/braces.

Agree with the rest, too much too soon.

sijomial

Wish people wouldn't attempt to diagnose specific injuries for a stranger on the internet.
Let alone suggest treatments for injuries they don't actually know exist.

I used to volunteer as a guinea pig for trainee orthopaedic doctors which involved them diagnosing one of my particular knee injuries and explaining their diagnosis and treatment plan in the presence of their tutors - 2 out of 4 got it wrong.
Some of them even got the wrong knee!

kenyonhaff

Also... check your sneakers. Although simply going too fast too soon will cause knee problems, a very common problem is shoes that aren't up to the task. If you have good quality (not necessarily fashion brand) running sneakers that are relatively new you are probably in good shape. But a common problem is someone starting a running program with flimsy or worn out sneakers which ends up causing a lot of impact on the knees.

blueiii31062

Listen to the advice of everyone here who said to go see a doctor.

I experienced something similar 5 years ago and tried all kinds of self-fix it solutions. Finally went to see an orthopedist who took x-rays and diagnosed some pretty serious osteoarthritis, especially in my right knee. Long story short, I had to quit any sort of exercise that impacted my knees for 6 months. My ignoring the condition really made it much worse. Guess who doesn't (can't) run anymore?

mgalovic01

I can't believe with all this advise no one mentioned landing more-so towards the front of your foot. I had knee problems when I was striking the ground with my heal. It went away when I began striking the ground more towards the front of my foot. Now, my calves just get really sore.

Packerjohn

kenyonhaff wrote: »

Also... check your sneakers. Although simply going too fast too soon will cause knee problems, a very common problem is shoes that aren't up to the task. If you have good quality (not necessarily fashion brand) running sneakers that are relatively new you are probably in good shape. But a common problem is someone starting a running program with flimsy or worn out sneakers which ends up causing a lot of impact on the knees.

Just because shoes are new doesn't mean they are correct for a person's foot/gait. There needs to be a matching of the shoe to the running form.

kenyonhaff

Packerjohn wrote: »

kenyonhaff wrote: »

Also... check your sneakers. Although simply going too fast too soon will cause knee problems, a very common problem is shoes that aren't up to the task. If you have good quality (not necessarily fashion brand) running sneakers that are relatively new you are probably in good shape. But a common problem is someone starting a running program with flimsy or worn out sneakers which ends up causing a lot of impact on the knees.

Just because shoes are new doesn't mean they are correct for a person's foot/gait. There needs to be a matching of the shoe to the running form.

That's an excellent point and I should've mentioned that, thank you. And ideally it should be from a store that has salespeople who know how to determine the right shoe from you. "Foot Locker" at the mall (or similiar) likely do not have this sort of expertise...although once in a while a person is lucky.