Is hiking bad for your knees?

As much as there are various health benefits that can be derived when you hike, however, knee pain is one of the problems you have during and after the exercise. Most times, this type of pain is felt most when you are going downhill. This problem is common to older hikers because their joints are aging already, and less pressure needs to be exerted on it.

Ordinarily, just by standing up or walking into different corners of your house, you are stressing your knees in some ways; however, this stress becomes so much when you go outdoors to engage in cardiovascular exercises like hiking. Knee pain becomes unbearable when walking uphill because you are exerting too much pressure on your knees, and when you are going downhill, you also need to maintain your balance. However, while this is a big problem, it is good to know that pain can be reduced.

Though hiking is a popular pastime, which can be incredibly healthy and stress relieving, it can impact hikers' knees. Hiking can put a lot of pressure on the hiker's knees. This happens more often when a hiker is going downhill, as opposed to when it is moving uphill. If enough stress is put on the knee, it can cause knee pain. It can also cause the knee to swell up and inflame.

Compared to other joints in the body, the knee is more likely to hurt because the knee is what supports most of the body's weight. Knees are impacted in not only supporting most of the body's weight, but any other weight being carried like a backpack.

Hiking is an incredible way to exercise and a way to your mood along with friends. Hiking is known to put pressure on the knees, especially when you are hiking downhill than when you are moving uphill. The stress on the knee can cause pain and inflammation. Your knees are likely to hurt compared to other joints because this joint carries most of the body weight.

The knee is obliged to absorb the impact of not only your body weight, the effect of climbing uphill, and the extra weight from the backpack, which has many effects on the knees. A way to protect your knee when moving uphill is to keep your knee and shin in a vertical position on the ground when you walk and to walk in a way to soften the blows when you walk downhill.