November 27, 2009, Newsletter Issue #120: Running Research: Weak Quads, Hamstrings Contribute to Runner's Knee

Tip of the Week

Runner's knee, or some variation, has hit almost every runner at some point in his or her career. There's an interesting study I just learned about in the November issue of the American Journal of Sports Medicine that supports what many of us have heard--strengthen the quads to protect the knees.


In this study, researchers evaluated 1600 Navy midshipmen when they first arrived at the Naval Academy, and followed their progress to see what factors influenced the development of runner's knee.


Overall, 24 women and 16 men developed runner's knee over a period of several years. To summarize, those with weak quads were 5.5 times more likely to develop runner's knee than those with stronger quads. Arches and knee flexion played roles, too. To quote from the press release about the study, 


"Those with a larger navicular drop (a measure of arch flattening when bearing weight) were 3.4 times more likely" to develop runner's knee. And individuals "with smaller knee flexion angle (those whose knees bent less on landing during a jump test) were 3.1 times more likely ."


Hamstrings were less a factor, but those with weak hamstrings were 2.9 times more likely to develop runner's knee.


For the complete press release, click below, but meanwhile, maybe winter is a good excuse to spend some more time working on those quads at the gym!  Happy Running!


http://www.newswise.com/articles/view/558933/?sc=mwhr;xy=5017264

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