3 things we get wrong about knee health
If you want to stay injury-free, it’s time to move away from these trends.
While managing knee health isn’t always easy, we tend to overcomplicate things far too often. We’re prone to panic when we feel the slightest bit of discomfort or hear strange cracks and creaks when these are just natural occurrences. We start panicking and associate our conditions with terms such as ‘arthritis’ or ‘runner’s knee’ while forgetting the simple fitness principles that can lower injury risks and maintain full functionality.
To help you stay pain-free, I’m going to outline 3 common knee ‘myths’ you should be wary of. We’ll also look at solutions to become more educated and equipped in this area for everyday life. Let’s dive right in!
I want to start off by encouraging you to take everything with a grain of salt. Of course, this won’t apply to 100% of the population as there are some with severe chronic conditions or musculoskeletal injuries that need professional assistance and modified programs to remain safe and healthy. If you’re aware of any health history that may disrupt the application of the principles below please seek professional help before things get worse!
Without further ado, here are the 3 things you must be wary of when approaching knee health and maintenance.
1) “Only Athletes Need To Worry About Knee Strengthening”
Oftentimes we have a tendency to only worry about joint mobility and strengthening during two scenarios: training for a sport or recovering from an injury. We should, however, take hold of a prehab mindset to maintain and improve areas like knee health regardless of fitness goals or pain outcomes. This way you’re far less likely to get an injury and become immobile later on in life.
While this may seem like an obvious point, I see countless clients have this mindset (even after a severe injury), and it pains me to know that they can save so much time and hardship if they start the little habits now rather than later. Even if your knees feel healthy and young, it’s never a bad idea to begin doing exercises to improve their load capacity and overall functionality.
2) “Knees over toes is an unhealthy position”
While you may have heard trainers say that you must keep your knees tracking over the toes, the reality is, this is a completely natural movement. Suddenly putting up boundaries once in the gym is simply counterintuitive. This additional stress to knee cartilage and the quad/patellar tendon (not to mention surrounding musculature) will go a long way to preventing injuries down the road. If done consistently, the anatomical structures of the knee will be much better equipped to embrace the endurance/stability challenges that life requires.
Beyond strength and stability, bringing the knees over the toes will also greatly improve ankle mobility. We often struggle with dorsiflexion (bringing the toes up) which can take away from important lower-body exercises such as back squats. By bringing the knee over the toes while keeping the foot planted, we can challenge this range of motion, resulting in additional mobility and strength to the ankle joint.
If you’re looking for ways to put this into practice, try doing decline squats with a riser or creeper walks to push your knees forward and strengthen them fully. From a broader sense, notice opportunities throughout the day when you can challenge your knee strength, such as walking down stairs, sitting down in a chair, etc… The more we can practice progressively loading up the knees in a safe manner, the less likely you’ll be riddled with pain and injuries.
3) “Noisy knees are unhealthy knees”
Just because you hear clicking, popping, or crunching sounds at the knee joint doesn’t automatically mean that something is wrong! If these sounds are not associated with pain, you likely have nothing to worry about as they are not only natural but may actually indicate a healthy joint.
The ironic thing is that the fear of damage or of something “wrong” within your joints can cause you to avoid otherwise safe and normal activities. This may lead to increased pain and immobility, so please remember to not overthink these sensations and keep moving throughout your day like you normally would.
**Of course, if there is severe pain associated with these sounds or sensations then I highly suggest you look into it with the help of a professional.
Regardless of your fitness level and anatomical knowledge, you can successfully manage your knee health. All it takes is the right mindset and a few simple movements to get you going in the right direction. If you’re able to follow these principles consistently, you’ll not only improve your knee health but your overall lower-body strength and functionality will level up.
Why not start today? You got this!
Want to take a step in the right direction? Come grab one of my programs and get started today. You’ll start feeling better in days.
