The Made 2 Move Podcast · Hannah Breal - Physical Therapist

The RAMP Framework for Runners With Knee Pain

August 25, 2025·38 min·2 clips

Hannah says, "It's not the stress that's bad for you" and "the right amount of stress makes your knees better."

It starts with a familiar frustration: runners keep hearing different advice, and the knee still hurts. The episode pushes back on the idea that pain automatically means running is the enemy. Stress is not the villain. Without enough challenge, running gets worse; with too much, it also gets worse. The body needs the right amount of stress to adapt, and the practical question is how to match demand to current capacity. The episode folds running miles, stairs, lifting, squats, lunges, sleep, food, job stress, relationships, and weekend chaos into the same bucket: all of it is load the body has to manage. The main lesson is to change the easiest thing first. For many runners, that means running volume. Sometimes the pain shows up after a sudden jump in mileage or total time on feet. Sometimes the issue is not mileage at all, but a big leap from casual running into training. The episode uses a second-grader analogy to make the point clear: pre-calc is too much if the capacity is not there, but one plus one is manageable. You match the stress to what the body can handle, then increase it a little when it is ready. The episode also leaves room for other fixes when they are the obvious problem, like not eating enough. The tone stays firm on one thing: the knee is not broken and the pain is not permanent. Most runners do not need a dramatic shutdown. They need better dosing, a better plan, and a progression that respects current capacity.

As heard by us

A practical reminder that knee pain in runners is often a load-management issue, not a reason to stop running.

It makes a steady case that knee pain in runners is often a load-management issue, not a signal to quit. The message stays grounded in a simple frame: stress can help when the dose is right and backfire when it is too low or too high.

Read the full review in PlayNext →

Why you'd press play

Your knees hurt, but you do not have to stop running today.

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

Listen to the show on

Apple Podcasts Spotify

Play clips from this episode More from The Made 2 Move Podcast