Welcome to the Injury Q&A with Running Coaches & PTs!
This is a great place for runners and other athletes to ask questions about injury prevention and recovery. Our physical therapists and running coaches are here to provide you with expert advice, support, and guidance on how to stay healthy and injury-free.
We hope you find this forum helpful and informative. Feel free to post any questions you may have and our team of professionals will be happy to assist you.
Hey, does anyone know some exercises to strengthen the knee-joint? I’ve had a little bit of knee pain for some time and this looks like the perfect place to ask
And I was also wondering, is running on the treadmill bad for your knees? Thank you!
Why does my shin hurt when I begin a run? It’s really painful and it’s starting to annoy me a lot…
Shin splints!!!
This looks like a cool forum, I also have knee pain, specifically the day after running when walking down the stairs. I’ve had it for about 1 month on and off and was wondering how to fix it? I’m not running that much but would like it if someone could help me. Greetings from Timothy!
Mary,
When we talk about making improvements for the knee we have to take into consideration the whole lower extremity. For example, if I have someone do a single leg squat I am looking at balance, strength in the leg, and control. If someone has difficulty doing this and it causes pain at the knee it does not mean the knee is the problem but the knee pain could be the result of the real problem. What I would recommend is strengthening the hip and work on balance on one leg. For the hip strength try side lying hip abduction. If you google that exercise some pictures and videos on how to complete it will come up. I hope this helps!
Joe Wisniewski
PT, DPT
Mary,
Typically, no, running on a treadmill is not bad for your knees. Running on the treadmill does have some slight differences compared to outside on pavement. The main differences are that we typically run with a higher cadence (more steps per minute) and a shorter stride length while on a treadmill. These differences do not correlate with knee pain.
Joe Wisniewski
PT, DPT
Hi Joe, never really thought about it like that! I’m starting those exercises as of today 
found this video and let’s see if it works! thank you Joe!
hmmmm does someone know how it can be fixed? It’s still haunting me on my runs…
can’t help you, but Joe’s advice looks really good! I’m going to try it! and thank you Mary for the video, looks good! And let me know if the problem will get fixed!
Hey guys, don’t know if this is the right place to ask, but I started having lots of pain in my calves while running the last weeks, does someone know what the problem might be?
Hi James!
Tell me a little bit more about where the pain is (inside/outside of the shin and middle/top/bottom of the shin) in addition to at what point in the stride do you feel the discomfort (upon initial contact, at push off, etc). Any recent changes in your running (mileage, shoes, terrain)?
Looking forward to discussing this in more detail with you!
Cheers,
Sam Hegedus
Hi Robert,
Describe that calf pain in more detail for me (inside, outside, middle)! Have you changed anything in the last couple of weeks in regards to your training and/or shoewear? Does anything besides running increase the pain? And what seems to decrease the pain once it’s irritated?
Best,
Sam Hegedus, PT, DPT, OCS
Hi Timothy!
Describe where at your knee you feel this pain (top, bottom, underneath). I would start off by trying a few exercises that work quad eccentric strength (which is required to walk down the stairs pain-free), in addition to mobility of the hip flexors! Sometimes our knee can come in a little with stairs, which causes irritation between the kneecap and the femur, eliciting that pain. The first exercise will help with that motor pattern as well.
Try these two:
Lateral step downs with band: Banded Single Leg Lateral Step Downs - YouTube
Couch Stretch: How To Do The Couch Stretch - Tangelo Health - YouTube
Let me know if you have any questions!
Best,
Sam Hegedus, PT, DPT, OCS
Hi Sam, the pain is more inside in the middle of my calf, I did increase running just a little more (about 30% if I would have to estimate because I had some extra time from work). When walking it doesn’t really hurt but I can feel that it is quite tight/sensitive, so I do some stretching after each run which seems to help, but then when I have another run it starts irritating me again…
Best, Robert.
Hi Sam Hegedus, I totally forgot about that! I got new Nike Vaporfly next % 2 shoes before I started getting more knee pain! I started doing the exercises that Joe said were useful and I think they are helping, I can post again next week to see how much they helped but have less problems when walking down the stairs (I think). I will also check out your videos! and I was wondering, can I still run in my vaporfly’s? Greetings from Timothy!
Hello Sam, the pain is mainly in the front of my shin in the bottom and the middle. I mostly have discomfort during the initial contact of the floor, and also during the run and after the run. Other than just becoming more fit I don’t really have recent changes in my running, thank you for helping me
Hi Robert,
I would start to add in eccentric calf raises (before and after running), in addition to an ankle mobility exercise to ensure that you have full range of motion of your ankle to handle increasing load to the calf muscles and posterior tibialis muscle.
calf eccentric exercise: How To Do Eccentric Calf Raises - Kinetic U Exercise Series - YouTube
ankle mobility: 3-Way Ankle Dorsiflexion Mobilization - How to Increase Your Ankle Mobility! - YouTube
I would do the ankle mobility as much as you can throughout the day. This should not be painful. The calf eccentrics might be uncomfortable, but that is to be expected (as long as it isn’t sharp pain).
Let me know how it goes once you’ve added this in!
Best,
Sam Hegedus, PT, DPT, OCS