Running Actually Helps Your Knees. Really!

I run about 25 miles a week, 4 - 5 miles a pop. I've done this, off and on, for about 20 years. And when I tell folks this, at first they're impressed, then they're concerned: "But what about your knees?" I can see them conjuring images of my old frame hobbling around on battered, arthritic leg joints, crippled by my drive to stay fit.

Finally, I have the defense I need to stop them at impressed, because just in the last couple years there've been several conclusive studies showing that running actually helps your knees. That's right. Runners driving their knees into a cranky clatter is a myth.

The most recent pivotal study came out of Stanford in 2008. It followed middle-aged, longtime distance runners (not necessarily marathoners) for nearly 20 years, beginning in 1984. When the study started, 6.7 percent of the runners had bad arthritic knees, while none of an age-matched control group did. Skip forward 20 years, and the runners’ knees were healthier; only 20 percent showed arthritic changes, versus 32 percent of the control group’s knees. Even better -- barely 2 percent of the runners’ knees were severely arthritic, while almost 10 percent of the control group’s were.

What gives? Fact is, OA (osteoarthritis) is the primary cause of knee problems and occurs when cartilage, the spongy tissue that cushions our joints, breaks down and deteriorates, making weight-bearing activities painful. And running ... unlike being heavy and sedentary ... prevents OA.

Of course, you need to run responsibly -- wear supportive shoes and replace them when worn out, fix any knee problems properly, incorporate cross-training and rest days -- but if you can manage that, your knees will thank you in the end.

Photo via Wickimedia Commons.