First of all, let’s get this out of the way: No matter what you might have heard before, running isn’t bad for your knees.“That has been completely disproven,” says Jordan Metzl, M.D., primary sports medicine physician at the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York City. In fact, arthritis—a common source of knee pain—was seen in only 3.5 percent of recreational runners in a 2017 literature review published in the Journal of Orthopedic Sports Physical Therapy, compared with 10.
Banded exercises, like side steps and monster walks, are particularly good for strengthening the gluteus medius.A physical therapist can suggest exercises for strength and to improve your hip and kneecap mobility and running mechanics. Fitzgerald again recommends flossing your distal quad to help with this patellofemoral ache; see above for how to try it.