Fixing the Knees

     The knee is basically the main target of injury for runners. Nobody intends to hurt their knees (or any part of their body) but it just simply happens to about half of us. No doubt, it's super frustrating, and seems like it'll never end. I have patellofemoral pain in my knee, which is basically identified to runners as "runners knee". It just happens. There's not a whole lot you can do for it either.
     If you have this too, I'll give you some tips and tricks as to how to fix it (as I am starting to do). First, reduce your mileage. It may suck, and if you're anything like me, you weren't running all that much in the first place, so decreasing any more in milage is basically nothing. Even so, take what you can get. If that still doesn't help, stop running for a bit. Give your knee a chance to simmer down a bit and see what happens next.
     You may cross train if your prefer, especially on bikes, but once again, I found this only worsened the pain and if anything made it worse. It depends on the type of pain and injury you are suffering. Some are able to bike with it, others are not. No two human bodies are the same.
     Here's what really helped me out. Improving the muscle tone of my quads. By increasing the strength of my leg muscles I found that my knee began to improve. Not all at once, but over the course of about a month and a half. I focussed a lot of doing lunges, front squats, and back squats. My knee didn't become perfect, and it still isn't. But it's improved tremendously.
     To take it one step further, I began running again. Sometimes with tape, sometimes with not. I've found that my knee has done the opposite of what it was doing, and has improved! Especially running hills, I have no idea why, but I recommend those to anyone who is in my position. I am unsure of the science kept behind my wacky theory, but I no longer need tape on my runs (but it does help).
      Lastly, don't put un-needed weight on your knees. For example, kneeling on my knees at church on Sundays made a bigger impact that I thought it would. By simply sitting instead of kneeling, it made all the difference. (400)