Running ruins knees? No way, says fitness freak Milind Soman

Running ruins knees? No way, says fitness enthusiast Milind Soman, who has been running for nearly one-and-half decade but never down with single injury.
"It's a perception (running puts knees at risk), but it's not the truth. The truth is anything you do with wrong technique will cause you injury," the 51-year-old model cum actor and avid barefoot runner told PTI here.
It's not just about running. It's about any activity -- dance and game, for example -- that one does, with wrong technique, there is a chance of injury, says one of India's first male supermodels.
The whole thing about running for health and recreation is that the activity is taken up by people normally in middle age, after a gap of about 20 years, he said.

"So, what happens is everybody runs when they are children till the age of 10 or 11. Then they stop running for 20 years before again starting running at the age of 35. Obviously the muscles you need for the activity and also technique, every thing deteriorates," Soman explained.
"Your body has not been doing it for so many years. And plus your weight changes, may be you become heavier...All the balances change. So, when you start running or do any activity or sport, you have to start very, very gradually. And as your body becomes stronger, then you have to increase.

"What a lot of people do is they jump (after not running for 20 years) before they can run, and they run before they can walk. It's important to give one's cardiovascular system time to adapt, become stronger, be able to understand balance and coordination all over again," he said.

"Now, I have been running since 2003 and I have never been injured. I have always increased it very, very gradually. Whole purpose of doing endurance sport is to understand your body better, it's not about timing, it's not about competition, it's about understanding your body, mind, potential", says Soman.

People in India are today engaged in fitness activities, unlike 20 years ago.
"In fact, when I started running, I saw no body else running. People said 'Arey pagal daud raha he dekho'! Group of people, every body who ran at the time were ridiculed. But it's now kind of become admiration. Now it's wow...I wish I could do that. It has become aspirational," he said.
In a country like India with no culture of exercise, sports, and fit lifestyle, people have started running in the thousands, inspired by each other.
"Every political party, rotary club, every college, school, all organisations organise running events. This is something that ignites the aspirations of people. People are beginning to inspire each other, and that's how it grows," Soman says.