Painful inside knees

[Warwickshire2019]

OMG I’ve not done any form of running since leaving school. I’m 58 and just started but my knees feel wrecked, swollen. I’m worried I’ve done some damage. Any advice greatly appreciated.

[Plattszo Graduate]

Hi there. Sorry to hear your knees are bad.

Where are you on the journey?

It's so important to warm up and cool down, woukd be my first thoughts.

[Voldatort Graduate]

I was the same at the start, so took it very easy with slow jogging technique and painkillers. It did improve over the weeks, now my knees are fine. I started running in Dec.

[QuadroVEINia Graduate]

In addition to the stretching I would recommend knee strengthening exercises, ensuring you are properly hydrated and getting good rest between runs. Ordinarily the advice is to invest in ‘proper’ trainers further down the line but your footwear might also be contributing to your problem? You can get a ‘gait’ analysis done at runners sports shops and invest in the right ‘pronation’ trainers to provide you correct support. Hope that helps...

[Warwickshire2019]

Thanks all for your responses . I’m doing warm up and warm down exercises I’ll also look at the footwear too.

[Wwps Graduate]

Stretch, do knee strengthening. Go super slow! I wrecked my knees in week 2 and it was because I was going to fast and landing on my heel. I also got some new shoes that were rated as most comfy, they were on sale that have helped. I am now happy snail status and haven’t had a repeat, currently finishing week 7! Also make sure you rest until it doesn’t hurt anymore, and pick it up where you left off. Good luck!

[Yesletsgo Ambassador Graduate]

Find some grass to run on. It doesn’t jolt your knee as much.

[Runnin_mamma]

I have knee pain when running and agree that stretching before and after helps, in particular hips and glutes (bum) which get tight causing me to put more pressure on my knees. I also use a type of tiger balm on my knees before and after.

Also on my rest days, I try to have time with legs elevated and ice. I’m on week 6 run 1 after repeating week 5 run 3 for a week.

Good luck!

[IannodaTruffe Mentor]

Welcome to the forum and well done getting started.

Impact on legs with insufficient musculature to absorb it is the cause, so follow the advice in the guide to the plan on minimising impact, stretching after every run, hydration and strengthening exercises, all of which will help.

This guide to the plan is essential reading healthunlocked.com/couchto5...

Enjoy your journey.