Q: Does your knee feel stiff through the front and/or medial (inner) side of your kneecap? Is it worse after sitting or kneeling? Does it hurt more walking down steps? Does the pain go away after you warm up?

A: Patellofemoral pain is often caused by alignment problems which in turn can damage the articulating surface of the kneecap (what is slides on), cause excessive pronation and/or muscle/tendon weakness or tightness. Often times you can "run through" this sort of pain, but you're going to need to back off volume, hills and intensity. Some strength training, wearing a knee brace, taping your arches or wearing an orthotic, and replacing worn shoes or wearing motion-control shoes can help to realign your knee and alleviate this problem.

Q: Do the outside of your knees ache? Are you doing track sessions and or putting in some big training volume - during your long training sessions the knee aches and then the pain dissipates shortly thereafter.

A:Iliotibial band syndrome (ITBS) occurs when the IT band, which runs from the hip down and across the knee becomes tight and inflamed. Athletes that over-pronation and/or are bow-legged often suffer from this problem. If you get on to it quickly you can recover in one to four weeks. Take anti-inflammatories one to two hours before you run, stretch your ITB's pre and post run and ice the distal part of your ITB post-run. In the short term you may need to decrease of your training volume and intensity and stay out of the hills. If you're doing track sessions mix them up - do half the session clockwise and the other half anti-clockwise. If the problem persists you may need taping or or orthotics.

Q: Does the front of your knee ache and it seems to get worse the more you run? Is the pain in the front of the knee just below patella (kneecap)? Have you recently added more training volume in on the run?

A: Patellar tendinitis is an inflammation of one patella tendon. Tendinitis occurs when tissue breakdown outpaces re-growth. It is often caused by a sudden increase in training volume, adding in more hill work and/or quality work. If you try to run through this sort of an injury it'll only get worse. It is an "overuse" injury in the true sense of the term. You need to give you knee time to recover. If treated early, it can heal in a few weeks. Focus on your swimming and cycling while the knee is healing, take some anti-inflammatories (under doctor's direction), ice the knee, try wearing a patella strap to lift the knee cap, stretch and strengthen your quads - straight leg lifts with the leg fully extended and the foot weighted can be helpful here.

Interested in getting fit & losing weight?
Clicke here for the Guy Leech 12 Week Food and Exercise Programs which are:
• Tailored to your level of fitness
• Includes a suggested food plan that helps you lose weight
• A weekly video to assist you on your journey
• Supported by a team of experts