Running, especially when heavy or overweight puts a lot of stress on your joints, most notably the knees. The effect is worse when you're untrained and don't have a proper technique. Swimming does not, since your body weight is suspended by the water.
I was always under the understanding that running (potentially) ruins your knees by damaging your cartilage - bone thickness or density isn't the issue. That's why swimming is often recommended because there is no impact on your cartilage.
Like all repetitive activities, runners are prone to overuse injuries and the most common is to the knee. However, runners are still much better off than non-runners. Also, knee pain is almost always due to a biomechanical or strength issue. If you’re smart about your running (most runners, self included, are idiots about their running), you need not get injured and you’re way better off than sitting on the couch.
That said, I don’t know what happens to the knees of swimmers, weightlifters, cyclists, etc, but inactivity is the worst thing you can do.
Sorry, I just hate this very common misconception that runners are out there destroying their knees.
Runners don't get arthritis in their knees more often than nonrunners.
Those are the facts. Period. If anything, long-term studies have found that runners have less incidence of knee osteoarthritis. One study[1] that followed runners and nonrunners for 18 years found that, while 20% of the runners developed arthritis during that time, 32% of the nonrunners did. A large study that looked at runners and walkers[2] found that regular runners had roughly half the rate of arthritis as regular walkers. In that second study, the runners with the highest regular mileage had the lowest rate of arthritis.
Your body builds the strength necessary to support your activity level. Unless you already have an active exercise regimen, an overweight person has generally only built the strength to support walking shorter distances. So the more overweight you are, the more careful you need to be when increasing distance while running.
Alternatives like cycling and swimming are better for the knees, especially for the old and overweight.
The absolute worse thing you can do for your knees and other joints is be obese. The constant weight and stress wrecks you. This is also why young, fit males come out of the military with wrecked knees, not because of all the running, but because they march around constantly carrying 100+ lb packs, on bodies that would be at a healthy weight of 150lbs.
There's even evidence that distance running strengthens your knees, contrary to common knowledge. https://archive.ph/utsUF
Worrying about too much exercise for the average person is like worrying about drinking too much water on a desert hike.
Rowing is only slightly better for your knees than running. If you are worried about knees, swimming is the best cardio, because it puts almost no strain on your joints.
This isn't exactly what you're asking about (I think you're challenging swimming as a go-to activity for someone too injured or otherwise unable to run) -- but there is a related myth, which is that running ruins your knees. Studies have shown evidence the opposite is true: that running strengthens and thickens bone. I mention this by way of saying that, with the amount of myth and half-truth out there as relates to running and the impact on the body, I'm never surprised by what people believe anymore.
This is a persistent misconception about running. You absolutely must invest the time to learn proper form (or more accurately, unlearn negative habits, because children naturally know how to run), but as an activity it is not inherently dangerous for your joints or knees.
Note: I am not a doctor, and the literature becomes mixed as you study runners with higher and higher mileage per week. The point is that someone with a healthy weight should not be damaging their joints merely by repeatedly running - proper running involves allowing your feet to fall below you, not ahead of you, where the calves and quads can properly absorb the impact and use the "bounce" from the ground impact to propel forward efficiently. Doing something other than this, like landing on your heel in front of your body, forces your knees to absorb the impact.
If you're running 60, 70 or 80 miles per week there may be degenerative effects on joint health, but if we're speaking realistically that is unlikely to happen for someone just looking to get into shape unless they're a few years in and training for something. I run 30 miles per week and have no plans to significantly increase my mileage - my health and fitness goals are rather more "intense" than most people I know and it takes up a lot of my time (looking at about an hour of running workout per day).
If someone wanted to gain the benefits from jogging, jogging to the store or even commuting by running five days a week would be far, far lower than what appears to be the lower bound on introducing joint degeneration.
I'm going to echo the grandparent comment: if you're not already moving and have a favorite exercise (cycling, swimming), I urge you to consider running. Running every day quite literally changed my life. Dieting is a close second. My mood significantly improved, my sleep improved, every physical activity felt better, etc. After a month of consistent running you even miss it when you don't do it.
It messes with your knees and heel. When you take a step during a run, your leg lands with your entire body slamming into it.
There are ways to run that are less damaging (better equipment, like socks and shoes, or using the technique where you largely only make contact using the balls of your feet), but it doesn't change the fact of a shock happening.
That said, it's unlikely to be so damaging to you as to outweigh its benefits. Swimming is better mostly because water has less resistance than the ground, and pushing off isn't really a shock to anything.
I'm a distance runner and had a physiotherapist friend who said obesity is the main cause of knee injuries. I'm sure there are instances where running can wreck your knees, but from a statistical perspective, you (including your knees) are better off with the benefit confers.
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