How Do I Stop My Knees From Hurting When Running?

The very best way to stop your knees from hurting while running is to pay attention to where you land on your foot when you run. You want to make sure you are landing on the balls of your foot (forefoot strike – see here how to land on your forefoot), not on your heel (heel strike), shown below:

Is Forefoot Running Better for Shin Splints? YES! — When you land with a forefoot strike when running, naturally causes the knee to bend at landing, which also aligns the shin in a safer position that includes less opposing forces. This entire landing configuration also has the direct effect of reducing stride length which reduces all the forces responsible for knee and shin pain as compared with heel striking, which has the complete opposite effect to forefoot striking when running.

Forefoot running is fast becoming the safest, and fastest way to run on account of mounting evidence over the last decade proving the genuine physical benefits of forefoot running which includes doing more to sustainable protect the knee, unlike heel strike running.

Most important, forefoot running is was found to be most effective when stride length is shortened, but shortening stride while landing heel-first was found to do nothing to reduce the physical stressors that assault the knee.

More detailed information about this came from a study in the American Journal of Sports Medicine which discovered that the most prime conditions for keeping the knees completely safeguarded in running was the combination of forefoot striking, while shortening stride length as compared with heel strike running with a short stride.

The researchers found that peak IT band strain, internal knee rotation angles and peak hip adduction were similar between heel strike runners and forefoot runners, but were reduced the most when stride length was shortened while using a forefoot strike, not a heel strike, suggesting that the overall positive effects of forefoot running is enhanced by shortening your stride length!

So how come a shortened stride length reduces stress at the knee?

The researchers discovered that a shortened stride length directly causes the feet to land farther apart from the midline. This is called a wider step, shown below:

Does Heel Striking Cause IT Band Pain? YES! — When you shorten your stride when running, it naturally prevents a cross-over step pattern (foot lands on or across the midline), and instead, allows for a wider step-width (foot lands farther away from the midline) whereby a wider step-width

The researchers reasoned that a shorter stride naturally accompanies a wider step width because a shortened stride requires taking quicker steps, resulting in less time to bring the feet through and around the stance limbs.

A wider step width is important because it is linked to reduced IT band stain, joint moments and frontal plane motion (Brindle et al. 2014; Meardon et al. 2012; Meardon et al. 2009).

This study demonstrates that it doesn’t matter if you are landing forefooted; to ensure injury-free running, you must shorten your stride. This is the number one problem for heel strike runners who switch to forefoot running.

Heel strike runners are notorious for having a significantly longer stride than habitual forefoot runners. When they switch to forefoot running, they inadvertently fail to shorten their stride and end up with an injury.

How well you avoid injury depends on your ability to integrate all the correct mechanical facets of forefoot running —forward lean, knee flexion and a shortened stride. Thus, don’t neglect other mechanical aspects important in forefoot running –shortening your stride! A shorter stride accounts for mostly why habitual forefoot and barefoot runners dodge injury and can bail you out of getting injured, too.

References:

Boyer ER and Derrick TR. Select injury-related variables are affected by stride length and foot strike during running. Amer J Sports Med, 2015; doi:10.1177/0363546515592837

Brindle RA, Milner CE, Zhang S, Fitzhugh EC. Changing step width alters lower extremity biomechanics during running. Gait Posture. 2014;39(1):124-128.

Meardon SA, Campbell S, Derrick TR. Step width alters iliotibial band strain during running. Sports Biomech. 2012;11(4):464-472.

Meardon SA, Derrick TR. Crossover and free moment during running. Paper presented at: North American Congress on Biomechanics Meeting; August 5-9, 2008; Ann Arbor, MI. http://www.asbweb.org/conferences/2008/abstracts/538.pdf.

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