Does Running Ruin Your Joints?
Monday, January 12, 2009
Jolie Bookspan, M.Ed, PhD, FAWM
A study in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine found no evidence of accelerated rates of osteoarthritis among long-distance runners.Further, weight-bearing exercise like running helps stave off osteoporosis by maintaining bone mineral density.
Study source:
American Journal of Preventive Medicine
August 2008; 35(2):133-8.
American Journal of Preventive Medicine
August 2008; 35(2):133-8.
With good movement mechanics, running will not cause early wear on your bones and joints. With injurious poor movement habits, of course, you can wear and injure the joints.
Posts showing good movement mechanics during exercise and daily life:
- Healthy Knees
- Spotting Back Pain During Running and Walking - What Do Abs Have To Do With It?
- Prevent Main Factor in Back Pain After Running and Walking
- Back Pain From Running
- Walking Softly Benefits Olympic Wrestler
- Why So Many Aerobics Injuries?
- Autumn Yard Work - Limiting the Person Instead of the Injury Again?
- Exercise and Aging - Don't Limit the Patient to Limit the Pain
- Not Old for the Olympics Part I
- Most Helpful Olympic Advice So Far
- Arch Support Is Not From Shoes
- Common Exercises Teach Hip Tightness When Kicking, Stretching, and on the Stairs
- Is Bad Martial Arts Good Exercise?
- Common Exercises Teach Bad Bending
- Are You Making Your Exercise Unhealthy?
- Runner Fixes More Pain With Straighter Push-Off
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Labels: aerobic, aging, arthritis, impact, injury, osteoporosis, repetitive strain, running, walking
2 Comments:
At Monday, January 12, 2009 11:45:00 AM,
Coachhrd said…
Guess this means all of us long-distance runners should quit now! Good luck with that. I think the positives far outweigh the negatives.
At Monday, January 12, 2009 12:11:00 PM,
Susan said…
From the abstract of this study, it doesn't appear that they controlled for total exercise volume - which I find rather unfortunate. Like you, I'm of the school who believes that running is not harmful and may be beneficial to joints. But one of my cycling friends asked whether cyclists have less arthritis as they age than runners do. Are you aware of any studies that answer this question?
Thank you, love your blog!
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