Release tight muscles

Releasing tension in the muscles surrounding the knee, like the quads, hamstrings and calves is always a good place to start. “Discomfort or pain in the IT band [the outer thigh] can be caused by all of these muscle imbalances,” says Hirst.

“Foam rolling is a soft tissue release technique that can reduce the tension in the muscular structure, but I would never suggest doing that in isolation. You need to make sure you’re ironing out the muscle imbalance in the first place.”

Mobilise before running

So, how do we do that? Activating glutes before running, with clams, bridges and other waking-up moves will help you drive forwards without overstraining the knees. But general strength training is essential, too.

Work the quads and glutes

“Quad loading exercises like squats or single leg knee dips are great, but if it’s those glutes that need work then we really need to focus on form. For example, in those knee dips push the knee out over the toe in order to get the glute muscle functioning.” In addition, make sure your strength work is endurance focused, as that is the skill needed to transfer over to your running.

Knee pain while running? Here’s why you get aching knees after a 5K – and what to do about it