Can treadmills hurt your knees?

With the rapid development of our economy, many friends often go to the gym for fitness, and the treadmill in the gym is what every friend who likes sports will use to exercise. However, some friends have symptoms of knee sprain after using the treadmill. This is because you did not use the treadmill correctly, such as your running posture is wrong or you set the speed too fast or for too long.

Using a treadmill scientifically will not hurt your knees, but using it incorrectly can easily hurt your knees. There are mainly the following reasons:

1. Speed: Runners who cannot keep up with the pace of the treadmill are likely to injure their knees.

If the speed of the treadmill is 6 km/h, most people have better physical fitness at the beginning and can keep up with this pace. But later, their physical strength gradually declines and it is easy to fall behind the pace, which can easily damage their knees.

2. Time: Too long a time will affect physical fitness, resulting in a lack of speed.

The treadmill running time should not be too long, preferably not more than 1 hour. Generally speaking, 40 minutes is enough to achieve the purpose of exercise and fat burning. The optimal duration is between 30-50 minutes. If you run for more than an hour, you will consume too much physical energy and eventually you will not be able to keep up with the speed of the treadmill. When you can't keep up with the pace, your knees will be injured over time due to wear and tear. This is equivalent to a "chronic disease" and you will get injured without realizing it over time.

3. Weight: Overweight people are advised not to use treadmills.

The gym has regulations that it is generally not recommended for ordinary people with a height and weight over 80kg or 90gk to run on a treadmill. Because overweight people weigh too much, when they run on a treadmill, the pressure on their knees and ankles is too great, resulting in high impact pressure and easy knee injuries. For overweight people, it is recommended to ride a seated bicycle with a backrest.

4. Running movements: If you use improper running movements on a treadmill, your knees may be easily injured.

The joint connecting the femur and patella at the knee can only flex and extend forward and backward. Therefore, when running, the direction of the knee should be consistent with the direction of the toes. If it is crooked, the medial and lateral ligaments will become loose due to long-term twisting and stretching. The ligaments will be loosened, the muscles will be affected and cannot achieve balance, which will cause knee injuries.

From this article’s introduction on why treadmills can hurt your knees, I believe you all understand that using a treadmill correctly will not hurt your knees. For those who have not exercised for a long time, if you want to use a treadmill to run, you should be careful not to run too fast and warm up before running.