Save your legs - Take up running

Has anyone ever told you to give up running because it is “too hard on your joints”? Well if you are a fan of running, here is some ammo for you to come back at them with.

Runners are less likely to develop osteoarthritis (OA) than people who don’t run or exercise. In other words, running can actually protect your joints!

Brand new research, involving over 100 000 people, has found that recreational runners had a 3.5% prevalence of hip or knee OA, while people who did not run had a prevalence of over 10% (Alentorn-Geli et al. 2017). This means recreational runners are about 3 times less likely to develop OA than those who don't run.

This is great news for those of us to love to get out for a trundle to keep physically and mentally fit, and should be encouraging for those who are thinking about it. The news isn’t so good for professional runners however! 13% of elite and professional runners (who obviously run further and faster than us weekend warriors) were found to have OA. But hey – it might be worth the Olympic gold!

So why not get the trainers on and hit the pavement. Your future self will thank you!

Here are a few tips for those who are thinking about getting into running for the first time:

Build up a strength base – Start by doing some lower body and core strengthening exercises to prepare yourself.
Work into it – Start out running a distance that your body can handle and increase it by 10% each week.
Recover well – make sure you give your body a day or two to recover after your run – you only need to run 2 or 3 times a week to start with.

If you have any questions about this topic, or would like some help to get a running program underway come in and chat to us..