Is it difficult to jog regularly? Are your knees starting to hurt? Well, it’s time to learn how to jog with bad knees.
It’s easy to make up excuses and call it a day.
Most people do this and it’s the worst approach a person can take! You should adapt, persevere, and learn how to make the most of your situation. Bad knees don’t have to hold you back.
Here’s a detailed look at how to jog with bad knees.
What Causes Pain in the Knees?
Let’s begin by understanding the cause of your pain.
In general, the knee can start to wear down over time. There are several reasons for this as the joint takes a brunt of the pressure. When this pressure starts grinding against the joint, it sends your pain receptors into panic mode.
No one likes that feeling!
Each person has a unique set of reasons for why their knee pain exists. However, these bad knees (as long as they’re intact) don’t have to get in the way of your jogging.
We always recommend speaking with a medical professional to learn more about the underlying pain before beginning. This alleviates serious concerns that could worsen by jogging.
Tips on Jogging with Pain in the Knees
Emphasize Good Form
Begin by focusing on good form as that’s essential. It doesn’t matter whether you’re a beginner or a professional, there’s nothing worse for your knees than bad form. It obliterates your knees and leaves them in an awful situation.
What does good form look like?
It starts by making sure you’re running on the front third of your feet. Anytime your feet start “thumping” against the ground, it’s a sign of bad form. Instead, you want to make sure your heel is up at all times. This alleviates some of the tension that’s put on your joints all the way up to your hips.
Along with making sure you’re not flat on your feet, it’s also important to keep your legs up as you jog. A person that doesn’t raise their knee closer to their chest while running is applying negative force on their joints. Everything ends up out of order when you do this!
Also, take the opportunity to keep your chest up. It should sink in. The best way of doing this is to make sure you’re looking forward rather than straight down. It automatically puffs your chest out.
When your form is good, the rest is going to become easier. Concentrate on this as you work on running with bad knees.
Find the Right Shoes
Finding the right shoes for jogging can be a game-changer.
We recommend jogging with one of the following shoes:
With the right shoes, you can start to see a shift in how you feel while jogging. The shoes will begin to alleviate the stress that’s placed on your body while jogging. When you’re wearing oddly shaped shoes, everything falls apart and your knee takes a pounding.
Be smart about what you’re wearing because footwear is a must!
Use a Knee Brace
Along with wearing the right shoes for jogging, it’s also important to think about protecting the actual joint.
Your knee is already weakened and it’s not going to handle continuous pounding on concrete flooring without breaking down. This is why you have to stay alert and invest in a purposeful knee brace.
We recommend using the OrthoSleeve KS7 because it’s robust, easy to wear, and works wonders for joggers.
Always make sure you’re wearing the knee sleeve before jogging. It’s going to make a noticeable difference and will allow you to push harder while going on long jogs around the neighborhood.
Pace Yourself
Pacing yourself is one of the best ways to avoid a knee injury.
This means jogging at a leisurely pace and making sure you’re not moving for extended periods.
For example, we recommend starting with a light jog of 10-15 minutes while starting off. Build your way up to longer sessions. This is the only way to prepare your knees for what’s going to come next. Otherwise, if you jump straight into a lengthy session, the knees will give out.
There’s nothing more important than pacing yourself in a situation such as this. It allows you to adjust based on what your body tells you. Too many people rush their progress and end up dealing with a nagging injury.
Remember, the goal is to stay active and that doesn’t happen from a hospital bed!
Listen to Your Body
You have to listen to your body and pay attention to what it’s saying.
This means focusing on your knees and what causes even a hint of pain. Let’s assume you go through a workout session at the gym and your knees start hurting at a certain speed. Or you jog outside and the knees start hurting after 10 minutes.
In both situations, you can listen to your body and adapt. Make changes whether it’s changing how you’re running (i.e. buy a treadmill) or reducing the amount of time spent jogging from one place to the other.
These changes are a great way to preserve your knees and make sure they’re not compromised.
Stay Hydrated
Drinking enough water is a must.
You cannot jog while dehydrated because it takes a toll on the body. This includes your knees because everything works in sync. When the other parts of your body start to give out, your knee is going to take quite a bit of damage.
It’s always the weakened areas of your body that end up hurt.
You have to stay alert and make sure you are carrying a water bottle with you during the run. This is the only way to feel good about your health and well-being. Otherwise, jogging is going to become quite challenging as the session wanes on.
Final Thoughts
Learning how to jog with bad knees is easy as long as you’re aware of the problem. Don’t continue to push through because this is not one of those issues. You can’t work your way through it.
It’s only going to get worse with time.
You have to stay focused, stretch, and make sure you are prepared for each session. This is going to ensure your knees remain in good shape and you can jog freely.
