Why do my knees hurt when I go upstairs?
I scrolled past this post in Instagram the other day. It caught my eye because of the language used - "mistakes that make your knees hurt to go upstairs" - catchy. A lot of people have pain when going upstairs and wonder why. This content seeks to help those with a simple solution for their pain.
Now you know this wouldn't be a very long post if I were just agreeing with something asserted on social media. I do have a point and it is this:
The reasons for knee pain can be numerous and complex, most importantly for a trained physician to diagnose, not Instagram. To suggest that you're just going up the stairs "wrongly" isn't fair. It sets up false hope and rests the blame for the pain, on the owner of the knees rather than an underlying issue that is beyond their control. So if you still have knee pain after trying this, that's more evidence to go to a Dr and get it diagnosed.
My client came to me with knee pain, going up and downstairs. I am not a diagnostician and I do not have MRI eyes (not even X ray vision, sigh). So back to her GP she went in order to get a diagnosis or the all clear. Luckily she had the all clear, her GP said that exercise would be beneficial. After months of skills development with me, her knee pain has subsided to the point that she's looking forward to a skiing holiday. Something she thought she would have to give up.
Going upstairs is not an easy endeavour, when you break down the biomechanics of the movement (how bones and muscles move to go from one place to another). I would say that going upstairs is like doing 12 single leg squats in quick succession. Why don't you try it and see how easy those are? Just as I thought, not easy and quite tiring. So to expect a person with knee pain to do this several times a day, that's quite a lot.
Training with me involves preparing clients to do these movements successfully, and skillfully. Later in the programme, we then with load it progressively so that when it comes to the real thing - it's easy peasy!
Other than ignoring Instagram, if you scroll past something that sounds too good to be true, be curious as to whether such a simple solution to a really complex problem is a reliable source to base your pain upon.
Jasmine Reddin is a highly trained and fully certified Personal Trainer, Motor Skills Analysis Specialist and Faster Trainer Expert. But she STILL doesn't have MRI eyes. She can work with you once you have a clear diagnosis and treatment. Once that is in place and your health team give clearance, sessions can start straight away. It feels good to be working out knowing you have a team of specialists, not blaming or shaming you for your conditions, but working together and supporting your goals to improve your health.
Imagine that all or some of your fitness hurdles were overcome? What would that mean to your life and ambitions? So before you make any decisions about your fitness, give a serious consider about booking a confidential meeting with me to review your options. I will help address your questions and tailor a fitness plan to your unique goals, offering training options both online and in-person or both.