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Comment by jillesvangurp | Hacker News Reader

Only if you can keep on doing it until you are old. A lot of people wear out their hips and knees before they can reap the benefits. Light exercise in the form of walking rather than running is a bit more sustainable and something you can keep on doing as long as you stay healthy. Cycling is similarly beneficial.

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This is wrong. Running actually builds up the knees. Only walking is a good way to break down your knees as you get older. My father was trained from a young age to fear running. He had shot knees by his mid forties. I've been running since I was a teenager. No issues (I'm in my 40s).

https://www.oxfordortho.sg/articles/why-running-is-actually-...

Thank you for this. Running competitively definitely beats up your tendons and what not but after 30 years of running 70 (then) to 20 (now) up have had like 5 days my knees were achey. I will say not everyone has ideal biomechanics and our sedentary lifestyles also impact injuries while running.

Running with proper form might help your knees (and it provably doesn't hurt them). The actual science your source is drawing from will tell you that it's not conclusive that running improves knee health [1]. Running with poor form will definitely damage them. Walking (2.5mph, briskly) will not hurt your knees and is considered overall one of the best exercises you can do [2]. Walking and running (with proper form) both will improve knee pain.

1. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/18550323/ 2. https://health.gov/sites/default/files/2019-09/Physical_Acti...

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