How do your knees affect your stride? By Nick Rinard MPT, Cert MDT
Technically speaking your knees (the joint parts) do not affect stride since running is a “mid-range” motion. Walking, on the other hand, does involve end range extension, so limited extension could have an effect – but not in running. Pain in the knee is likely to affect your ability to tolerate a running stride, and your body will find ways to avoid pain – thus affecting your stride in varying ways. There is no typical way this happens, so if you have knee pain, you need to have a good mechanical examination to find out how to best treat or manage it.