I hear some version of this statement about once a week. I worry more about injuring myself rolling my eyes in reaction than I do about my knees becoming arthritic because of running. Yes, people get injured running. They’re usually caused by trying to do too much too soon at too quick a pace and by ignoring the body’s warning signs. What the ruin-your-knees naysayers usually mean is that running is going to do longterm damage to your body, especially in the form of arthritis.
I don’t mean to be mean here, and I know that this statement is often made with good intentions, but did you ever notice that the people making it don’t exactly look like they view their bodies as temples? Instead, they’re using the myth about ruining your knees to justify their own inactivity and to make themselves feel better about that by trying to make you feel worse.
I seriously doubt that the people making this prediction know that several studies comparing long-time runners to sedentary people have shown no difference in the rate at which people got arthritis. Also, studies comparing 55-and-older arthritis sufferers have found that over a five-year period, both the runners’ and the nonrunners’ arthritis got worse at the same rate. In other words, even in people who already had arthritis (which is often inherited), running didn’t make it worse.
In fact, most experts agree that running can help against arthritis. First, weight-bearing exercise such as running strengthens bones and keeps joints better lubricated; “Use it or lose it” doesn’t apply just to muscles. Second, you’ll probably lose weight once you become a runner, and weighing less places less of a strain on your skeletal system than does forcing it to cart around an extra 30 pounds.
I don’t mean to be mean here, and I know that this statement is often made with good intentions, but did you ever notice that the people making it don’t exactly look like they view their bodies as temples? Instead, they’re using the myth about ruining your knees to justify their own inactivity and to make themselves feel better about that by trying to make you feel worse.
I seriously doubt that the people making this prediction know that several studies comparing long-time runners to sedentary people have shown no difference in the rate at which people got arthritis. Also, studies comparing 55-and-older arthritis sufferers have found that over a five-year period, both the runners’ and the nonrunners’ arthritis got worse at the same rate. In other words, even in people who already had arthritis (which is often inherited), running didn’t make it worse.
In fact, most experts agree that running can help against arthritis. First, weight-bearing exercise such as running strengthens bones and keeps joints better lubricated; “Use it or lose it” doesn’t apply just to muscles. Second, you’ll probably lose weight once you become a runner, and weighing less places less of a strain on your skeletal system than does forcing it to cart around an extra 30 pounds.
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