Knee brace?

[Rowena04]

Im currently on wk3 run2 (or I will be after tomorrow) and my knees really hate me right now. Im only 36! It's the insides of my legs/the knee joints that hurt, not the kneecap itself (eg where my knees touch if I close my legs tight, terrible pic below). Is it worth getting a knee brace and are there any that are particularly better than others?

[Rignold]

This is very very common. You need to strengthen your quads. they do the work of supporting the knee. A knee sleeve may alleviate some of the discomfort but it is just sticking a bandaid on the problem, not fixing it. Do some squats. Do some lunges. Do a load more of them. Every day. for the rest of your life. Your knees will thank you for it.

[Alanist Graduate]

I was in agony with my knees around the week 3 mark too and thought I would have to give this up. After reading posts on this forum I learnt that it's quite a common thing and in many cases goes away as you work through the course and your legs strengthen. I think I took 2 ibuprofen for couple of days and by midway through week 4 any pain and discomfort I had was gone. I did try a knee brace but it didn't really do anything.

I hope your knees recover as quick as mine did and you can continue through to week 9 pain free.

[Elfe5 Graduate]

I had that problem in the first few weeks, took some ibuprofen to ease it & it gradually went away. I think it was fine by about W6. I do squats as part of my warm up & at other times. I think gait analysis and the right shoes probably helped too. 😃

[JaneE71]

I had this too around the same time on my left knee-I bought a knee support (NeoG)and ran with it once, not sure it helped and it was expensive!

I ended up taking a week off C25K,took some ibuprofen and just walked to build it up. I then took a couple of rest days before each run which helped. Stretching gently after runs etc is really important too. Have a look on the NHS Choices website for more information about knees etc.

The most important thing though was to slow my pace even more( I became even more of a snail!) as I think I was too eager to finish each run! I then realised speed really doesn’t matter and it’s not a race.

Good luck and slowly does it! 🏃‍♀️🏅

[sallenson Graduate]

Probably the same response as the others from me. I gave up my first attempt at C25K because of hurty knees. I know how it feels.

I'm going to make some assumptions: you've got the right kind of trainers for you're running gait. If you haven't/don't know then find a local running shop who'll pop you on a treadmill. I'm assuming that they're not cripplingly painful and don't hurt badly when you run. They're just really sore but don't hamper your day-to-day walking about. If it's real pain, then find a local sports physio and get them checked out properly.

On the assumptions that it's (just) really sore but your shoes are okay, it's just your ligaments and connective tissues getting used to being exercised. It's incredibly common and goes away usually by W3 or W4. If you search on here for "knee exercises" you'll find a heap of good ideas.

Best squats for you are going to be one-legged squats. Nice and gently and slowly at first. Push your backside out when you're squatting so your kneecap doesn't extend over your toes. 3 sets of 10 for each leg. Every other day is fine for me.

Take ibuprofen if you need to. That will take down any inflammation and get the blood flowing through your knees properly to flush them through.

But if in any doubt, get to a sports physio.

As Rignold says, incredibly common. Just feels a bit grim at the time...

[Rignold in reply to sallenson]

I am very impressed at your ability to do sets of 10 pistol squats, @sallenson but would suggest it is far too challenging for a beginner. I do 100-150 air squats a day and backsquat 1.5 Times My bodyweight a couple of times a week, but would struggle to do one set of 10 pistols squats to depth. It takes a lot of practice.

I would suggest the OP sticks with regular air squats with good form.

[Tasha99 Graduate]

Same for me in week 3! Iced and elevated as often as possible. Ibuprofen an hour before a run and I ran through it. It’s strength needed in the thighs. Sorted itself out in a week or so. Did all that against the advice to rest though as I felt I knew I could and it’d be fine.

[Dbbd Graduate]

I was exactly the same, it does go away just make sure u squat & stretch before a run , makes all the difference.