Running: Will It Wreck Your Body?

April 16, 2026

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5 min read

Running: Will It Wreck Your Body?

About half of all runners get injured every year—an injury serious enough to keep them from running for a while. That number comes from a review of multiple studies, and it's the kind of statistic that makes you wonder whether the sport is worth it. But the same body of research also shows that runners live longer, have less arthritis in their knees, and can get a genuine chemical high from a good run. The question is not whether running is good or bad for you. It's how to get the benefits without getting hurt.

The Real Injury Risk—And What Actually Causes It

Runners do get injured more often than cyclists or swimmers. The most common injuries are in the knees (about 30 percent of all running injuries), followed by the lower leg between knee and ankle (about 20 percent), and then the ankles (about 13 percent). The conventional wisdom has long been that this is simple wear and tear—after all, every time your foot hits the ground, your knees absorb more than four times your body weight.

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What you'll learn

1 (00:00) **Introduction: The Running Debate** - Host Aketty Foster-Keys introduces the episode's central question: is running good for you or does it wreck your body?
2 (02:59) **Injury Rates: Running vs. Cycling vs. Swimming** - Senior producer Meryl Horn presents data comparing injury likelihood across sports.
3 (05:45) **The Impact Myth and a New Theory** - The old "wear and tear" explanation for running injuries is challenged by new research.
4 (07:12) **The 10-30% Danger Zone** - Dr. Nielsen's large study reveals that a small increase in distance dramatically spikes injury risk.
5 (09:59) **Why We Feel Like We Can Run Farther** - The body's adaptive systems send mixed signals, encouraging overexertion before the musculoskeletal system is ready.
6 (11:58) **The Booty Solution: Glute Bridges Reduce Injury Risk** - A specific strength exercise is shown to be a powerful protective factor.
7 (15:45) **The Longevity Benefit: Running Makes You Live Longer** - Dr. DC Lee (University of Pittsburgh) presents evidence that running is powerfully associated with a longer life.

+ Full timestamped outline available in the app

Show Notes

Lots of us love — or love to hate — running. And we do it because it’s supposed to be healthy, right?! But then we hear tons of stories about runners getting hurt — sometimes so badly that they have to hang up their sneakers. And there are people on social media going even further, claiming it’s one of the worst things we can do for our bodies. So IS running secretly bad for us? And could too much of it actually bring you closer to a heart attack? We’ll explore the science on all of that, and we’ll also dig into runner’s high: What is going on in the brain to cause this feeling? With help from Dr. Rasmus Østergaard Nielsen, Professor Duck-Chul Lee, and Dr. Michael Siebers, we look at the science to find out if running is the key to a healthy life or if there are peer-reviewed reasons to be a hater.

Find our transcript here: https://tinyurl.com/sciencevsrunning

In this episode, we cover:

(01:48) What’s the deal with running injuries?

(10:51) How to get hurt less

(15:03) The secret to a longer life

(19:34) What is the runner’s high?

(28:58) How to get runner’s high

This episode was produced by Ekedi Fausther-Keeys with help from Blythe Terrell, Michelle Dang, Rose Rimler, Meryl Horn and Wendy Zukerman. We’re edited by Blythe Terrell. Wendy Zukerman is our executive producer. Fact checking by Taylor White. Mix and sound design by Bobby Lord. Music written by Bumi Hidaka, Peter Leonard, Emma Munger and Bobby Lord. Thanks to the researchers we got in touch with for this episode, including Dr. Anita Eberl, Dr. Johannes Fuss, Professor Robert Otto, Dr. Hirofumi Tanaka, Dr. Peter Kokkinos, Dr. Marilyn Moffat, and Director Brian Farr. A big thanks to Joseph Lavelle Wilson and the Zukerman family.

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