I've inherited my terrible joints from both sides of my family - I suffer from osteoarthritis in my knees, hips and spine, have hypermobility in most of my joints and my knees sit in the wrong place. Despite this, I love to run and generally be active, so I've compiled my top tips for running with arthritis, which I've found have worked well for me over the years.
Consult a doctor or physiotherapist. I can't stress this enough - I'm lucky enough to live in the UK and have free treatment on the NHS, but even if you don't have free healthcare, please do consult your doctor or physiotherapist. It's the most important thing - they will know whether or not your joints can tolerate the impact, if you should be on any other medication or supplements to help you, and any other considerations you should be taking into account - for example, I need to ensure that certain muscles don't get "too" strong and pull my knees further out of place.
Set a goal. I found this really helpful, because it allowed me to build up my activity and vary it according to how my joints were feeling. My ultimate aim is to run a marathon when I'm old enough, but this year I'll be running the Birmingham Half Marathon, and last year, I focused on 5km races (ParkRun is brilliant for these) and longer runs at my own pace, allowing me to run according to how painful my joints were, vary the intensity of my training and, of course, build up my mileage.
Strength train. Training with weights gives your muscles and bones a break from the repetitive motion of running, and it's especially useful for those of us with osteoarthritis - running too often can further wear the bone and cartilage down, making the pain worse. Another great thing about strength training for arthritis sufferers is that having strong muscles can help to alleviate some of the stress on the joints - in particular the knees. If you're seeing a physiotherapist, ask them about the best kinds of strength training you can do for your specific issues and activity level - as I said, I can't work on my outer quads (vastus lateralis) too much because of my knee positioning, and you yourself may have underlying issues like this, so it's important to seek professional advice.
Take it slow. Nobody expects you to go from nothing to running marathons in the space of a couple of months - even people without arthritis or joint problems would struggle to do this, and arthritis can, of course, be quite a setback - but it doesn't mean that you can't build up to running the same times as people with healthier joints! If your joints are especially bad one day, take a rest day - don't just neck a load of painkillers and run regardless. Pain is your body's way of telling you to stop - don't ignore it!
Nutrition & Supplements. I certainly find that, if my nutrition isn't in check, my joints feel far worse. Check that you're getting the right vitamins and minerals from your food, and if you have a diet which means you can't get these very easily (e.g; vegetarian), take supplements to get your RDA of everything. There are also some joint supplements which I've found to help - glucosamine sulphate is what most people find to work best, but there are tonnes on the market, so just find out what works for you.
Posture. Constantly checking your posture when you're running reduces the strain on your joints - it's particularly important if you have issues with other joints, such as your back and shoulders. Search Google for a guide on how you should be running, and try and stick to it as best as you can - it'll soon become natural to you, and you'll be able to run less painfully and without a lot of thought to it!
Good trainers. Trainers are the most important piece of running kit you'll ever own. Don't skimp on them. Get fitted at a proper running shop, have your gait analysed if possible - the way you run (specifically the way your feet land) affects all of your joints, and it's a big factor, for me at least, in the way my arthritis and other joint conditions affect me. You can get trainers which themselves correct your gait, or insoles from a pharmacy or podiatrist to do it, and running with a good gait helps to alleviate the pain from the arthritis.
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So, there are my top tips on running with arthritis (and a variety of other joint conditions!). Let me know in the comments if you have any other suggestions for me to try out!
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