Prevent Half of All Knee Injuries? Plyometrics for Runners: Knee Edition.

Your knees ache again. But it's not the sharp, stop-right-now kind of pain.

It's the slow dull, familiar throb that shows up a few miles into your long run and whispers and threatens to become something more.

In a few days. Maybe.

You’ve been here before.

And you've done the ice packs, stretching, even a round of PT exercises you swore you’d keep doing forever (until life got busy). You’ve scrolled through reddit and google and stumbled on another suggestion: plyometrics.

Jumping? For distance runners? WITH KNEE PAIN?

Let me explain.

Hi, I'm Marie Whitt and I'm a runner and a Doctor of Physical Therapy. My whole job is to keep you running and prevent new or old running injuries from making an appearance.

And yes, plyometrics are FANTASTIC for repeat knee-pain runners.

Because deep down, you don’t just want to get rid of the ache.

You want to run more: higher mileage, faster paces. All without your knees deciding to turn to brittle glass.

This is where plyometrics, done the right way for runners, come in. And today, we’re going to unpack exactly how they work, why they might be your knee’s new best friend, and give you a simple circuit you can start using right away.

Let's go.

Why Plyometrics Are a Game-Changer for Runners with Knee Pain

How do plyometrics work for runners?

Plyos are often one of the last things runners consider adding to a rehab circuit or their general strength plan.

But for runners with repeat knee issues, especially ones involving tendons like patellar tendinopathy or runner's knee, plyos are gold.

This is because healing and strengthening tendons is slightly different compared to a muscle. With muscles, we focus on lifting heavy, utilizing progressive overload. With tendons, we also want to lift heavy, but also SLOWLY.

An example is 3 seconds to descend into your bulgarian split squat, and 3 seconds to ascend, and return to your starting position.

BUT WHY?

Because tendons respond best to high load over time. They require high mechanical load (lifting heavy)  to stimulate collagen synthesis and structural remodeling (fancy words for encourage the tendon to rebuild and get stronger.) Lifting heavy ensures enough "good" strain is placed on the tendon to prompt adaptation.

And the above mentioned slow tempo rep-scheme allows for more time under tension. This where we get the prescription of 3 seconds down, 3 seconds up, increasing the length of time that the tendon is actively loaded. This prolonged load encourages the tendon to reorganize its collagen fibers into a stronger, more aligned structure.

Lifting heavy gives your body the message to build and get stronger. Lifting heavy and slow sends that message directly to your tendons.

So how do plyos fit in?

Tendons are great at generating force and play a key role in absorbing force, such as the impact of your foot on the ground with every stride. Lifting heavy can build the tendon's capacity to be able to do hard things such as run a marathon, but performing plyos actually teaches tendons how to do it and survive.

How do plyometrics save you from runner's knee?

Like we mentioned before, plyometrics help build a different kind of strength: they actively teach your tendons and connective tissue to be springy, athletic, generate and absorb load; all things you need on your daily run.

But when it comes to building mileage or the fast pace of race day, you need your patellar tendons, your knee tendons, to go the distance.

Quick effective plyometric circuits help build stronger knee-tendons, capable of running longer with out fatiguing, improve running economy, and even help you run faster and easier.

Plyometrics are a form of intense strength training that target not only muscle, but tendons too. They're often the missing piece of the physiological puzzle because while lifting heavy and slowly can make the tendons stronger, you still need to teach the tendons how to create power, creating and absorbing load with every stride.

How long does my plyometric circuit need to be and when do I do it?

I about keeled over when I read a response on the internet from a runner who said he does a half hour plyo circuit a couple times a week. Listen, running fit fam, I'd be dead.

You don't need 30 minutes. 10-15 minutes is fine.

I use mine as a running or a lifting warm up! This is based on running and exercise research that states we want to perform our most difficult and power-based movements FIRST as they take the most energy.

In other words, we want to be fresh for them. And I promise, they won't wreck your run. Instead, you'll "wake up" your leg muscles....and your nervous system. This makes for better runs and more productive workouts.

Knee-Saving Plyometric Circuit for Runners

Circuit:

3 sets each // body weight (you can start with 2 sets)

Switch Jump Lunges

• X 8-10 jumps ea leg

Elevated Split Squat Jump

• 8-10 jumps ea leg

Skater Jump

• 8 jumps ea leg

Pistol Squat Jump (no it's not that scary...)

• 6-8 jumps ea leg

Why Runners with Knee Pain Need Plyometrics

Switch Jump Lunges

• There's two ways to do this...

• TOP TIP: Start with learning the motion first. Add depth later. Practice hopping out of your lunge and switching which foot is in front. Gradually, as you get more confident, begin to land deeper in the knee-bent position.

• WHY? Because this introduces something called deep yielding, meaning your knees are learning how to decelerate, control, and absorb force in a deeper position. Coupling this with the explosive power of the switch jump, you're on your way to building stronger, injury proofed knees. But please, don't feel you have to start here; work your way into landing in a deeper lunge, avoiding that knee crashing into the floor!

Elevated Split Squat Jump

• It's kinda spicy, but in a good way

• THE SECRET: this is more of that deep yield good stuff. By placing your front foot on a couple of stack plates or a VERY low exercise step, we introduce more knee flexion (or bending at the knee). When you jump up, sure, you're producing as much explosive power, but landing is where the magic happens.

• Landing in this flexed knee position places greater load on your quad (muscle) and your patellar tendon. This two tissue structures are inseparable and rely on each other constantly during your run. By teaching them together, in a "on-stretch" position, you're creating a stronger knee that will be able to handle longer runs as it's learning to absorb greater and repeated high impact.

Skater Jumps

• An oldie but a goodie. And I like it.

• FUN FACT: even as runners, we need our knees to be strong in ALL directions, despite running being a relatively forwards-only motion. Skater jumps encourage stability in the frontal plane, or moving side to side. A lot of road-runners will say they don't need that and leave it to the trials runners, but roads have curbs, gravel, and uneven surfaces too.

• Not to mention, skater jumps are kind of fun, encourage glute strength, glute med power, and encourage communication between your knee and your ankle upon landing. Be sure to stick every landing like Simon Biles. ;)

Pistol Squat Jump

• I know this sounds terrifying. It's not.

• THE KEY: hold on to something. A door jam. A squat rack. Something super sturdy.

• THE OTHER KEY: you don't have to bend your knee a lot. That's something you work up to. My objective for you is to explore this motion, instability, and impact. I want your knee and brain together to experience a movement that's actually fairly similar to your running stride. Usually our weight is distributed more anteriorly, or forward, compared to the almost "sitting back" posture of the pistol squat, but this exercise continues to build "single knee" stability and strength.

WRAPPING UP

But what if I have knee pain RIGHT NOW?

Then these probably aren't for you right at this moment.

However, once your knee can handle consistent heavy strength training, that's the perfect time to begin to add these in, EVEN BEFORE YOUR RETURN TO RUN.

WHY?

Because running is high impact.

Plyos are practice for that high impact.

Espeically if you've had to step away from running for a hot minute because of injury, your tissues have lost some of that aquired strength and stiffness that naturally occurs as an adaptation to running.

By introducing plyos alongside your heavy strength trianing, you actually prepare your body better, more efficiently for your return to run....

SO THAT you don't get another injury upon building your mileage back up.

It's basically a cool cheat code.

But I realize, these exercises, reps, and sets can still be pretty challenging. So modify as needed. Go until you're tired. Then your done. Let yourself rest for 1-2 complete minutes.

The plyos aren't going anyway. And getting them done WELL at first, is better than sloppy quantity.

If you're looking for more lower body strength exercises so you can train like a runner, prevent injury, keep running, and PR your next race, check out my FREE Strength Guide for runners:

Grab the FREE Strength Guide HERE!

And I'll catch you next time, running fit fam.

Dare to Train Differently,

Marie Whitt, PT, DPT //@dr.whitt.fit

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REFERENCES: Llanos-Lagos C, Ramirez-Campillo R, Moran J, Sáez de Villarreal E. The effect of strength training methods on middle-distance and long-distance runners’ athletic performance: a systematic review with meta-analysis. Sports Med. 2024;54:1801–1833. doi:10.1007/s40279-024-02018-z

Machado AF, Noaves MR, Scartoni FR, Scudese E, Panza PS, Vieira JG, Vianna JM, Rica RL, Bocalini DS, Noaves JS. Impact of strength training in long-distance runners on running performance: a systematic review. Retos. 2024;58:76–84. Available from:

Malliaras P, Barton CJ, Reeves ND, Langberg H. Achilles and patellar tendinopathy loading programmes: A systematic review comparing clinical outcomes and identifying potential mechanisms for effectiveness. Sports Med. 2013;43(4):267–286. doi:10.1007/s40279-013-0019-zhttps://recyt.fecyt.es/index.php/retos/index