Knee pain is one of the most common ailments out there, especially for runners. In fact, it has a name: runner’s knee (clever, right?). Despite the fact that some of the physical benefits of running include stronger bones and joints, mis- or overuse can lead to knee injuries. 

Fortunately, you don’t have to accept this condition as an inevitability. Here are several effective ways runners can prevent knee pain or, at the very least, soften its impact and shorten recovery time.

Improve Your Form

The first thing you should do is check your form. Specifically, see if you’re overstriding. This means that your feet strike in front of your center of mass (i.e. your hips) with each stride. 

A lot of people blame heel striking (landing on your heel as opposed to your midfoot or the balls of your feet) for overstriding. However, although most overstriders are heel strikers, that’s not always the case. 

Now, the topic of form and how it relates to injuries is a hotly debated topic, despite the large amount of research around. However, the general consensus does seem to be that landing your feet under your hips will lessen strain on your knees, thereby reducing the risk of injury. A tip to achieve this is to focus on landing on your midfoot, but again, this isn’t strictly necessary.

Perform Knee-Strengthening Exercises

If you strengthen the muscles around your knees, you increase stability and resilience, thereby reducing your risk of injury. Here are some great exercises to incorporate into your weekly strength-training sessions:

• Squats (normal or single-leg)
• Lunges
• Step-ups
• Single-leg RDLs (one of my personal favorites!)
• Wall sit
• Clamshells
• Leg lifts (yes, your abs matter too for preventing knee pain)

Take Discomfort Seriously and Rest

You should be resting completely at least one day a week. This is essential for preventing knee pain and other overuse injuries. But if you notice any inkling of knee discomfort during a run, don’t ignore it, even if you have already taken your rest days for the week. Your body is always talking to you, and it pays dividends in injury prevention to listen to it. 

Refer to the RICE Method

You can stop injuries in their track and get on the fast road to recovery by immediately addressing concerns with the RICE method. RICE is an acronym for rest, ice, compression, and elevation. 

Take a break, treat your knees to some cooling therapy, consider using a knee brace, and spend time with your knees elevated above your heart. For this last part, I personally like to lie on my bed or the floor with my legs against a wall and perpendicular to the ground. 

Address Your Basic Needs

Eat well, drink water, and get eight hours of sleep—you’ve heard it before. But did you know that foundational health helps prevent all types of injuries in runners? The term “foundational health” entails sleep, nutrition, stress, and mobility, along with rest and strength, which we’ve already discussed.

So while you might not think that nutritious post-run meals and a good night’s sleep are protecting your knees, they are. 

Change Your Terrain

Do you usually run on paved roads? Try trail running! Though you might not notice while you run, trails are softer than pavement, as the soil has some give that can provide extra cushioning for your knee joints.

Additionally, trail running can improve leg strength better than road running can, and as you now know, that is also helpful for preventing knee injuries.

Get Better Shoes

Comfortable running shoes can provide valuable cushioning and stability. That said, shoes will not prevent knee injury. That’s very important to note. Rather, shoes act as injury-prevention companions to your good form and habits.

The science behind choosing the right running shoes is pretty complex and largely depends on your unique body and running style, but here are the main factors to focus on for injury prevention:

• Cushioning
• Stability/medial support
• Weight
• Heel-toe drop
• Above all, your comfort

A Note About Stretching

You might have noticed that I haven’t included stretching on this list. Well, perhaps shockingly, the research shows that stretching before a run can inhibit certain performance metrics, and elite runners are naturally less flexible than their nonelite peers. 

That said, both static and dynamic stretching can benefit runners by optimizing running energy cost and making sessions more tolerable mentally. Stretching also increases your range of motion, which is helpful in injury prevention.

Still, there’s an obscure relationship between stretching and injury prevention. Wild, right? Instead, an active warm-up is probably better for protecting your knees, as this will get your blood flowing and prep your muscles more aptly for the running session ahead.

Final Thoughts

Though you might not be able to completely prevent knee pain, you can reduce your risk and experience milder symptoms and faster recovery if you do sustain an injury. These effective ways are what runners use to stay on the road and trails comfortably.