Run Yourself Fit by Christina Macdonald

Author:Christina Macdonald
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Summersdale Publisher
Published: 2015-11-25T00:00:00+00:00

WHAT IS ‘RUNNER’S KNEE’?

Runner’s knee is a generic term for pain at the front of the knee relating to the patella (kneecap). The pain is usually from overloading the patella due to poor biomechanics (bad running style) or muscular imbalances. For example, when we bend and straighten our knee, the patella moves in a groove called the trochlea, which is known as ‘patella tracking’. If our quadriceps (front thigh) muscles are too weak or the ITB is too tight, this can disrupt the tracking of the patella, therefore causing pain. There are other biomechanical factors that can contribute, such as poor single leg stability. We see this when landing on one leg and the knee rolls inwards, which then causes the patella to track outwards. This would then overload the patella and, over time, start to cause discomfort or pain.

Solution: by maintaining good quadriceps and hamstring (rear thighs) strength, as well as good flexibility of our calf muscles, ITB and quadriceps, and having good single leg stability (see p.99), we can reduce the chance of suffering from runner’s knee.

AT A GLANCE

• Always see a physiotherapist if pain strikes

• Listen to your body and rest when you need to

• Remember your physiotherapist knows best – don’t return to running too soon

• Cross-training can help keep you fit while your body recovers

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.