You weren’t asking me but I had knee problems while jogging that continued for years until I started jogging with a metronome (* and stepping in time with the metronome). Turns out that when you set the BPM high, your running form magically and effortlessly improves. At least for me. Tip comes from here, where he suggests 160bpm. I settled on 180bpm myself.
(Instead of a metronome app, there’s also RockMyRun, or search spotify playlists for whatever BPM you like, etc.)
When I’m just running a bit, like to the mailbox or to pick up my kid from school or whatever, as opposed to longer dedicated runs for exercise, I don’t bother putting in earbuds to get a proper metronome, because I’ve been metronoming long enough by now that I’ve kinda gotten a feel for the proper pace cadence.
You’re deliberately stepping in time with the metronome, which involves more steps per minute than default. I don’t have a deep explanation of how that translates into “gentler on your knees”; I guess something about your center of gravity going up and down less, and the way you’re leaning, and how your body is configured when you step, whatever.
My guess would be that running with a metronome forces you to shorten your stride, which makes your more inclined to hitting the ground toe first instead of striking with the heel.
This is the basis of the barefoot running movement.
Anecdata indicates plausibly that more of the shock is absorbed by the calf muscles instead of the knee. Over years of this, the meniscus (which has no pain nerves) wears out, exposing sensitive bone & cartilage, explaining the pain when old enough.
Even if your foot still hits the ground the same way, there’s less time between impacts. I think that means both (a) the total impact is spread over more events, which could be gentler and (b) the total impact is less, because gravitational acceleration is quadratic in time between steps.
Got it. It’s actually possible this is true for me as well—I have minor knee problems and always assumed that it’s the knee braces I wear while jogging that keep my knees feeling ok, but I haven’t really tested this systematically, so perhaps I have more leeway to run short distances than I think!
I seem to recall your saying at some point (on a post about biking?) that you have knee problems. How do you handle that with this approach?
You weren’t asking me but I had knee problems while jogging that continued for years until I started jogging with a metronome (* and stepping in time with the metronome). Turns out that when you set the BPM high, your running form magically and effortlessly improves. At least for me. Tip comes from here, where he suggests 160bpm. I settled on 180bpm myself.
(Instead of a metronome app, there’s also RockMyRun, or search spotify playlists for whatever BPM you like, etc.)
When I’m just running a bit, like to the mailbox or to pick up my kid from school or whatever, as opposed to longer dedicated runs for exercise, I don’t bother putting in earbuds to get a proper metronome, because I’ve been metronoming long enough by now that I’ve kinda gotten a feel for the proper
pacecadence.Barefoot shoes had the same effect for me. They shorten the stride and that takes a lot of impact away from the knee.
What’s the mechanism here? Is it that wanting to keep time with the metronome shortens your stride?
You’re deliberately stepping in time with the metronome, which involves more steps per minute than default. I don’t have a deep explanation of how that translates into “gentler on your knees”; I guess something about your center of gravity going up and down less, and the way you’re leaning, and how your body is configured when you step, whatever.
My guess would be that running with a metronome forces you to shorten your stride, which makes your more inclined to hitting the ground toe first instead of striking with the heel.
This is the basis of the barefoot running movement.
Anecdata indicates plausibly that more of the shock is absorbed by the calf muscles instead of the knee. Over years of this, the meniscus (which has no pain nerves) wears out, exposing sensitive bone & cartilage, explaining the pain when old enough.
Even if your foot still hits the ground the same way, there’s less time between impacts. I think that means both (a) the total impact is spread over more events, which could be gentler and (b) the total impact is less, because gravitational acceleration is quadratic in time between steps.
There’s some research in this direction, which I haven’t looked into: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8329321/
I timed myself today and apparently I run around 190
Wild, thanks!
I can run about 45min a day and 15min at a stretch without my knees bothering me, and this is less than that.
Got it. It’s actually possible this is true for me as well—I have minor knee problems and always assumed that it’s the knee braces I wear while jogging that keep my knees feeling ok, but I haven’t really tested this systematically, so perhaps I have more leeway to run short distances than I think!