My runner’s knee…former runner’s knee, that is

When I first started running at the 5K distance, my knees got real angry with me.  They didn’t really hurt while I ran, but afterward.  The acts of sitting down, standing up from a seated position, and walking down stairs were painful.  My knees were sore and achy.

So, I did what anyone would do…I googled it.  Not surprisingly, I was inundated with rafts of conflicting advice.

I have a two-part strategy for dealing with rafts of conflicting advice I find on the Internet.

Find a common thread.  I pay attention to concepts or advice that are repeated by a number of sources.

Keep it simple.  I don’t have time to make and execute intricate rehab plans.  My approach is to try one thing at a time.  If that one thing doesn’t work, move on to the next.

With that strategy in mind, I found two solutions that work for my knee problem.

Solution #1: Strengthen my hips.  There is a link between how strong your hips and butt muscles are and knee pain.  You will find a ton of exercise routines and videos for strengthening your hips.  This is the simple approach that I used and it has worked well for me.

That said, I’ve mentioned before that my knees crunch when I walk down stairs.  I want to be clear that these exercises have made no difference in that aspect of my knee heath.

Solution #2: Release my IT bands.  The IT bands, or iliotibial bands, connect your hips to your knees.  If they’re tight and short, they pull your knees (and your lower back) out of whack…not to get too technical.  To release or massage my IT bands, I roll them on a foam roller.  This is the one that I use.  There are many different types to choose from.

Rolling your IT bands is initially very awkward.  It’s also painful at first, I’m not going to lie.  The first week I did it, I had a stripe of bruises along both of my hips and thighs.  (I bruise easily.)  But, I kept at.  Now it’s nothing big to do.  Takes about three minutes in total.  I always do it after a run, never before.

For me, these two simple solutions have made a world of difference in my ability to run for longer periods of time and have reduced the amount of pain I suffer after a run.  On top of that, it’s very likely that I have avoided injury during my runs, as well.