Knee Exercises

Hi All

 First time on the forum for me. Its been good to read a lot of the posts and see I'm not alone out there!

I'm new to running so apologies if this is a silly question. I am determined to do some knee strengthening exercises as I suffer with a sore right knee. My query is; having found several good exercises to do I'm not clear when to do them? Do I do them on a run day or a recovery day? I run 3 times a week but wasn't sure if recovery days are meant to be complete switch off.

 Hope someone can help

Whilst the exercises are good you need to really determine why you are having the pain

If you are new to running have you got the correct shoes?
You run 3 times a week which is sensible to start with
Have you slowly increased your distance?
If you are doing strength exercises the I would probably do them on days you are not running to start with but if there is any associated pain then stop and seek help.

Shoes may well be the problem if you have not been correctly analysed in a running shop

Just because you have knee pain it doesn't follow that you should be doing knee exerciises.

The knee is where you feel the pain but it is often not the CAUSE of the pain. The hips and or feet are the more common causes of knee pain experienced in running.

Getting a diagnosis before you embark on a series of exercises would be a better approach.

I used to suffer with knee pain a lot.  And as per post above, the cause was a hip drop due to lack of glute stability.  (ie I wasn't engaging my right glute when I ran so my right hip was dropping slightly and my knee took the brunt of the pain).

I know this is a common problem with runners, but obivously you'll need a physio to confirm this.   But if you are looking for exercises, core and glute strength exercises might help. 

I have problems with my knees, been told I have osteoarthritis in my knees though it was only diagnosed last year and when I had it diagnosed I wasn't experiencing any pain, infact the scan which showed the issue was regarding another issue.

I was told that the only thing you could do with a joint problem (aside from,-in the words of the consultant- stop running... ??!) is to build up the muscles around the joint and then train your body to use those muscles over your joints. It then helps take some of the strain away from the joints and they then are not so over used and so then when you have down time are more likely to be able to recover from being used.

Apparently its common for runners to get OA in the knees and hips due to running though there are studies which contradict this but safe to say the medical profession- in my experience do not like runners, they seem to view it as an extreme sport. When I was talking to the physios I may as well have been in A&E asking for help because I had a love for jumping in fires and couldn't understand why my face felt sore...

There are numerous studies to contradict the common medical profession idea of wear and tear of the joints. If your doctor or physio is anti running then see someone else. I was told twenty years ago by a doctor that if I kep running I would need an operation on my knee, I have doubled my mileage over the last 10 years and have no knee problems at all.

Doctors don't understand running and some physios don't either.

With regard to keeping the strain away from the joints ( ie knee) the muscles around the hip are far more likely to be the cause of the problem than the knee. Often the muscle on the inside of the knee, commonly known as the VMO is diagnosed as being weak and exercises are prescribed to strengthen it. The problem is the CAUSE of the VMO being weak is never addressed. Usually there is an associated hip or foot problem which once addressed will allow the VMO muscles to work as it should.

Below are some links to blogs I have written for core training, strength training and specific glute strengthening for runners which will hopefully explain this a bit more and give examples of the types of exercises that a runner should be doing.

http://www.mile27.com.au/plank-or-crunches-which-is-the-best-core-exercise-for-runners/

http://www.mile27.com.au/resistance-training-for-runners-part-1/

http://www.mile27.com.au/resistance-training-for-runners-part-2/

http://www.mile27.com.au/is-weight-training-any-good-for-runners/

http://www.mile27.com.au/strengthening-your-gluteus-medius-–-do-exercises-like-the-clam-or-a-side-lying-leg-lift-actually-do-anything/

Many physio's recommend adding some backward running into your training.  This apparently strengthens all the muscles you don't use going forwards and puts less pressure on the knee.  I found info here that helped me http://reverserunning.com/benefits.aspx

Everyone laughs at me but I haven't had a knee problem since taking up backward running and I used to get it every time I went for a run.

Hi,

I too am at a loss at the moment with your painfull right knee due to running and tennis.

Can anyone advise some easy simple exercises to help me get back to some sort of normal running without pain.  I have a knee brace that certainly helps when running but not with the recovery.  Do i need to see a physio to really get to the heart of the problem?