Now, this wasn’t the best designed study ever, for starters they only had 20 subjects, so it is hard for us to read too much into it. But the results do show a trend that is worth acknowledging. And the idea that we can minimise the risk of knee injury when running is worth investigating.

In this study they did a variety of tests, such as weights, height, strength, flexibility, and joint angle measurements, as well as questionnaires on running habits on runners to see which, if any, of these was correlated with a greater incidence of injury down the track. No pun intended.

The results: 1. Being overweight is not good. You would expect this due to the compressive nature of running and the fact that the knee joint bears a lot of weight.
2. The more you run the greater your risk, so avoid overtraining.
3. If your hamstrings are tight, you increase your risk of injury. No brainer really – they will restrict your range of motion and compress the joint, this will likely lead to something straining.
4. If your quads are too strong you increase your risk of injury. I was a little surprised by this, but it makes sense if you think about them compressing the knee joint, and pulling on the hamstrings.

So – moderate your training, keep your weight under control, keep your hamstrings loose, and don’t make your quads too strong. Simple guidelines to reduce your risk of knee injury. Bad news for fans of the thighmaster.

http://thegoodhealthjournal.com/?p=64