Why Your Knees Hurt When You Start Running Again After Summer
Your Knees Were Fine All Summer. Why Do They Hurt Now?
You start running again after taking the summer off.
Your breathing feels good.
Your legs feel strong.
Then your knees start hurting.
This is a common experience for recreational runners returning to activity.
The good news is that knee pain doesn't automatically mean you've damaged your knee.
Often, the issue is a mismatch between your current capacity and the workload you're asking your body to perform.
Your Training Load Matters
Running creates thousands of repetitive loading cycles.
If you suddenly increase:
Mileage
Speed
Hills
Running frequency
Training days
your knees may be exposed to more stress than they're currently prepared to handle.
This is why a gradual return to running is important.
Patellofemoral Pain
Patellofemoral pain is commonly felt around or behind the kneecap.
Symptoms may increase with:
Running
Squatting
Stairs
Lunging
Hills
Prolonged sitting
Strength deficits in the quadriceps and hip musculature can contribute to reduced capacity.
Patellar Tendon Pain
Patellar tendon pain is typically felt below the kneecap.
It can become aggravated by activities requiring high force from the quadriceps, including:
Running
Jumping
Sprinting
Squatting
Volleyball
Basketball
Fall sports can be particularly demanding because athletes often go from relatively low summer activity to high-volume practices.
Strength Deficits Can Matter
The knee doesn't work alone.
Your hip and ankle influence how force moves through the lower extremity.
At Carolina Movement Doc, we may assess:
Quadriceps strength
Hamstring strength
Hip abduction
Hip extension
Calf strength
Ankle mobility
Single-leg control
DynaMo testing allows us to quantify strength rather than relying exclusively on manual muscle testing.
What Does ForceDecks Testing Tell Us?
VALD ForceDecks can provide additional objective information regarding force production and movement performance.
Depending on the athlete, testing may include:
Countermovement jump
Squat assessment
Landing
Bilateral force production
Asymmetry
This information can be useful when determining whether an athlete has restored the capacity needed to return to running or sport.
Movement Analysis
A comprehensive knee assessment should examine how you move.
We may look at:
Squatting
Step-downs
Lunging
Single-leg balance
Jumping
Landing
Running
The goal isn't to find a perfect movement pattern.
The goal is to identify whether there are meaningful limitations that may affect your ability to tolerate training.
Rehab Should Eventually Look Like Running
If running is your goal, rehabilitation should eventually become running-specific.
That might include:
Strength → single-leg strength → landing → plyometrics → running drills → running → speed
The exact progression depends on the individual.
Don't Let Knee Pain Become Your New Normal
If your knees hurt every time you return to running, there is a reason.
You may need to modify your training load, improve strength, address mobility restrictions, or gradually rebuild your tolerance for impact.
A performance-based physical therapy evaluation can help identify what is limiting you.
Carolina Movement Doc helps runners and active adults in Gaston County build stronger, more capable bodies so they can return to the activities they enjoy.
