I recently moved into the city and no longer have access to trails for running, so have opted for the pavement. I live in an area with plenty of steep hills and find that my knees get quite sore, perhaps from jogging downhill. I have new, good quality shoes so I know that is not the problem. Is there something I can do to eliminate, or at lease decrease, the amount of knee pain? Perhaps small strengthening exercises?
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First of all, good for you for finding a way to keep moving despite one of the biggest challenges: moving to a new location. A change in routine can be a real deal breaker for regular exercisers so you obviously value it enough to keep at it no matter what.
That being said, sore knees are not fun, and while hill running is great for boosting your cardiovascular conditioning (and anaerobic threshold), it can beat up the joints if you have an existing injury or if you pound the pavement without a plan.
If you're in an area with lots of hills it's important to consider a few things as part of your routine:
1. Warm up as best you can on the flats. Find a route that you can run along for about 10 minutes before you head up hill.
2. Before you head up, stop and stretch out your calf muscles (big drivers on the way up), and your quadriceps.
3. Try strengthening your hamstrings for the downhills. Hamstrings work to slow down your quads (or de-celerate) on the way down, so if you have good strong ones, they'll help lessen the stress on quads and thus knees moving forward. Fitball hamstring curls are quick, easy, and effective.
4. If your knees are particularly tired, consider walking the downhills and really concentrate on minimizing the pounding.
5. Use a foam 'physio roller' (long white heavy foam tube) to roll out your quadriceps and IT band (long tendinous band on the outside of your thigh). Do this before and after your workouts to help stretch quadriceps muscles and connective tissue that can pull on the knee joint when tight.
At the end of your run, try to get on the flat land again, and to use any opportunity you have to try out new (flat) routes in different parts of the city. Think of this as a necessary reprieve for your knees.
Happy hill running!
Michelle Cederberg, MKin, PFLC
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