Ever have sore knees after hiking or walking a lot? Watch this video to learn 2 stretches that will loosen up the tension in the joints of your knees, ankles, hips, and lower back…
Knee pain tends to be a common occurrence during and after hiking, especially where there is no trail and/or on rugged terrain. The steps you take are rarely ever the same. You may find yourself jumping from boulder to boulder or walking on very loose gravel while going up or down hill. You may trip or get your foot caught on a bush or maybe even have to duck under branches…
This tends to put a tremendous amount of pressure on your knees and after several minutes or hours of this kind of hiking you may find yourself with pretty cranky knees…
I found myself in this very situation after a hike with my cousin, Erick in the Montezuma mountains of the high desert in central Nevada.
Our goal was to hike to the top of Montezuma Mountain at 9121 ft /2780 m. Getting there (meaning uphill) was pretty uneventful as far as my knees were concerned. Going was fine aside from the fact that my lungs were getting used to the altitude which made it pretty slow going and my legs felt heavy and out of shape.
My trouble began to arise after we descended from the summit. Negotiating down the side of the mountain amidst boulders, loose rock, desert sage, juniper and pinion trees. Every step felt more and more uncomfortable in my ankles, knees, hips, and lower back.
A lot had to do with the fact that I didn’t bring enough water with me which in itself is enough to make your knees feel pretty crappy. Think about it, that’s how they make jerky…dehydrating meat…The same thing was happening in my legs. So there I was in a high desert environment of central Nevada with about a quart of water. Not good!
So Erick and I got back and needless to say my legs weren’t feeling so great. The first thing I did was drink down as much water as I was able to.
Then I shot the following video which included a couple of the stretches that I used to loosen up my ankles, knees, hips, and lower back…
Check out the video and share your thoughts, questions, and comments below.
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Hi, Bill!
This is an informative post.
I talked about something similar.
What I really like here, is the way you made us know that hiking knee pain isn’t something to be worried about.
Though it affects lot of people.
Thanks once again.
Dwayne
I saw your site…I’m thinking it might make sense for us to have a conversation and see how we can help each other out…
Regards
Bill
Hi Bill, Thanks for the video, I was doing the stretches as I was watching you do them. I have a similar issue with my right knee where I get tightness and pain (in the front lateral and center back) and occasionally some swelling when I descend from a hike. Sometimes I feel laxity and achy ness in my right knee when I’m swimming (which is supposed to alleviate the discomfort). This has been going on for about 4 years now, it’s not any better or worse. Prior to that I had a skiing injury in my right knee but… Read more »
Unfortunately, there was no video, and no enabled link to ‘surgery free knee replacement’
Im not seeing any links to a video?
Melissa
We got the video fixed.
Thanks for letting us know!
Bill
Wow! Bill, if I tried to do these stretches, especially the first two where you stand on the outside and then on the insides of your feet, I would be in extreme pain. I am currently dealing with osteoarthritis in my knees, moderate on my right and very early in my left but no bone on bone in either one. Very, very, very……did I say “very” frustrating and depressing!!!!!!
Still trying to get any help for my left knee…psyeudo gout on 4/20/11
called. calcium pyrophosphate……….overnight calcium buildup in the left knee…
Have you dealt with this at all………any suggestions….thanks Lou