Have You Ever Had Runners Knee?

Have you ever had “Runner’s Knee” (or pain in the front of your knee from running or other activities)?

It may sound strange, but the solution to “Runners Knee” may actually be lifting heavy weights.

Here’s why:

Running a “cyclical.” That means it’s springy in nature which is great for running efficiency, but hard on our connective tissue, like tendons!

Tendons, by nature, have poor blood flow, and require time under tension in order to get necessary nutrients for maintenance.

Time under tension means slow, full range movements, preferably under a load using external weights.

If your tendons don’t regularly get that opportunity, and you’re putting on miles (or running more than you’re prepared for), it’s only a matter of time before they become irritated.

You may be wondering why the load needs to be “heavy.” Heavy is relative. It’s specific to what feels heavy to the person for that specific movement, and it’s a key component to rehabbing tendon injuries.

The greater the load a person can safely manage, the greater the resiliency that can be built in a previously weak and inflamed tendon!

So, what does this look like in the real world?

It means you load up the movement that's painful, which may sound counterintuitive. 

In this example it's knee flexion and extension (bending and straightening the knee joint).

That means you're going to be doing squat pattern movements.

That could be back squats, front squats, lunge variations, step ups, leg press, etc.

The goal is that you place strain on the tendons that are irritated.

Always remember the worst way to get injured is chasing your ego during rehab so be sure to select an exercise you're confident and competent doing under load.

Here are your movement parameters:

▶︎Tempo: 3 seconds down 3 seconds up.

▶︎Weight: Use a weight that is 8/10 for difficulty.

▶︎ Keep symptoms at a 4/10 or less.

▶︎ Reduce the range of motion before reducing the load.

Tendons heal slowly because of their poor blood flow.

Be patient.

You can come back better than ever.

If you’ve tried resting/icing/stretching/heating, you name it, and you’re still experiencing knee pain, you aren’t sure how to do this on your own, we’d love to chat with you!