In fact, your knees are most afraid of these three things

Wang Kemeng, Department of Orthopedics, First Affiliated Hospital of Xingtai Medical College

1. I am afraid that you will squat and kneel for a long time

Studies have shown that when you lie flat, the load on the knee joint is almost zero. When you squat or kneel, the load on the knee joint is 8 times your body weight, and the pressure at this moment is the greatest.

Take a person weighing 100 catties as an example:

When he walks, his knees bear about 100 to 200 kilograms of weight;

When squatting and kneeling, the knees have to bear a weight of about 800 kilograms.

If the knee is in this high pressure state for a long time, it will increase the wear of the cartilage. Once the cartilage is damaged, the knee joint loses the protection of the cushion, the bones begin to grind against each other, and pain will occur.

Therefore, it is recommended that you try to avoid squatting and kneeling in your daily life. If you need to squat to do something, you can prepare a small stool to sit on and work. For the elderly who like to practice Tai Chi, do not force yourself to squat too low, just stand and practice high-position Tai Chi.

When standing up or sitting down, be sure to bend your knees slightly and repeatedly, and then use external force to stand up or sit down, which will help protect your knees.

2. I’m afraid you’ll over-exercise

If you sit for a long time, your muscles will atrophy, the synovial fluid will not flow, and the knee cartilage will not get nutrition supply, so it will rust, which is not good!

However, excessive exercise and haste for quick results, as well as blindly setting yourself a high goal, can result in excessive intensity, insufficient stretching and warm-up of the knees, high friction in the joints, tight ligaments that are easily broken, and the knee joints can be easily injured.

Therefore, the knee joints like scientific exercise, moderate exercise, gradual progress, stretching before and after exercise. If you feel uncomfortable during exercise, stop and rest, don't insist blindly.

How to do moderate exercise?

Grasp three standards: increase soreness, reduce pain, and avoid numbness.

Acidity: The body feels sore during exercise because exercise causes the body to metabolize lactic acid, which accumulates in the muscles and causes soreness. This signal does not mean that there is something wrong with the body. On the contrary, you should increase your exercise volume to effectively promote the decomposition of lactic acid and facilitate recovery.

Pain reduction: If you feel pain in a certain part of your body during or after exercise, you should reduce the number of exercises and the range of motion. This is because the pain is not caused by lactic acid accumulation, but by slight damage to the tiny muscle fibers or ligaments in the body. If you exercise more when it hurts, it will cause damage to large muscles or entire ligaments.

Don’t practice if you feel numb: “Numbness” is the body’s last protective signal, telling us that the numb part has lost some of its sensory and motor functions.

Therefore, once your body feels numb, stop immediately. If the feeling does not subside for a long time, you need to go to the hospital for treatment.

3. I’m afraid you’ll climb mountains or stairs

There is no problem for healthy young people to climb stairs or mountains, but it is not recommended for people with knee injuries, overweight people and the elderly to climb mountains or stairs as a method of exercise.

When you go up or down a mountain, the load on your knee joint is 3-4 times your body weight. Especially when going downhill, there is a lack of gravity buffering. The body's instantaneous gravity will be concentrated on one side of the joint, causing more serious damage to the knee joint.

In short, it is not recommended to climb stairs or mountains as a form of exercise. The elderly, overweight people, and people with knee injuries should try to avoid going up and down stairs. If possible, take the elevator.