As we age, there’s a high likelihood that we will develop knee pain. There’s also a lot of folk wisdom around what you should do to preserve your knees. Alex Hutchinson, The New York Times, dispels some of the myths and reports on what the science tells us: exercise helps strengthen your knees.
Almost half of all Americans (44.7 percent) will get osteoarthritis in their knees over time. A lot of osteoarthritis is caused by knee injuries rather than too much exercise. And, a lot of it can be reversed through exercise.
Intense exercise, in fact, can help strengthen your knees. 43 studies indicate that running does not cause lesions in your lower legs and does not destroy your knees or the cartilage around them. In fact, the cartilage that protects your bones around your knees can adapt to injury and repair itself even though it does not have a blood or nerve supply.
When you bicycle, walk or run, the cartilage in your knees squeeze, eliminating bad stuff and taking in fluids that help to strengthen and improve the cartilage. So, if you have knee problems, eliminating high impact activities actually deprives your knee cartilage of nutrients it needs to stay strong.
What to do if you get lasting knee pain or knee pain that emerges the day after a strenuous workout? You likely put too much stress on your knees. You can continue exercising but change up your routine. Exercise more frequently for shorter time periods.
If you’re thinking about skiing and have not been exercising, prepare yourself. Do some squats and lunges to keep your knees and the muscles around them strong. Check out fittoplay.org, a web site created by the Oslo Sports Trauma Research Center in Norway. It offers some good exercise regimes for several dozen sports.
P.S. Supplements are not an answer to knee problems, according to the evidence. Glucosamine and chondroitin are of no proven benefit and come at a financial cost.
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