Knee conditioning

[Ryland]

What do you guys do to get your knees solid and prevent injury? Beside the big and general things - lift, ruck, stairs etc. Any PT ish things? So far biking and walking backwards has gone well for me.

 

[43.6N]

Stair doubles was recommended by my PT buddy.
Basically any time you have stairs, take two at a time. Both going up and down.
Can make it a focused workout if wanted. Many knee injuries happen on the downhill. Need to not neglect the eccentric movements.

Then progressive loading with backpack lunges, Bulgarian split squats, pistol squats.

 

[mtnbound]

Hamstring strength is huge in preventing injury. Do not just focus on knee-dominant movements.

 

[Seeknelk]

I've had great luck with the Knees Over Toes stuff on you tube. Out of his stuff the reverse sled drags seem to be the best for me along with reverse uphill walking. The sled takes less skill or balance so in some ways it better. My hiking trails only have one route that is smooth and wide enough for the backwards stuff. If you see a guy walking backwards with a rearview mirror and a backup alarm just wave and keep moving! Kidding but I've thought about the mirror! Neck gets sore...

 

[Zdub02]

Cycle your shoes often and make sure they work for with your body. I recently got a new pair of running shoes and thought they just needed a break in period. They absolutely destroyed my left knee every time I ran. Switched back to old worn out and pair and no more knee pain. This will apply more to aerobic training vs lifting but will still apply.

 

[Ryland]

Thank you all. Definitely a good couple to add to the routine.

 

[bighornbor]

I watched this video and noticed that my forestry (we hike 2-5 miles of timber a day) coworkers that are 50-60 yrs old actually walk exactly like that. They never complained of knee pain so surely it works.

 

[NMELK1118]

What do you guys do to get your knees solid and prevent injury? Beside the big and general things - lift, ruck, stairs etc. Any PT ish things? So far biking and walking backwards has gone well for me.

Walking backwards on a slight incline starting with minimal weight. Work yourself up to carrying plates in hands or resistance bands. Really did a solid for me, was hurting on heavy packouts on downhills where the focus was more on the knee, quad.

 

[Ross]

Protect them at all cost. These are ultra lite weight, but very expensive and painful

 

[Jakeb1697]

My PT has BOSU ball that is essentially a half dome exercise ball. From there we will stand on one leg and do a bunch of different bent over exercises, it helps with balance and strengthening those muscles around the knee.

 

[EdP]

Strengthen your secondary stabilizers by working hamstrings via hamstring curls and quads via leg extensiosns.

 

[skipper907]

lunges forward and back sled pull forward and back. knees over over guy stuff. laying on your side and rase leg ( not sure what the exercise is call you can also do it with a band around your knees doing side steps
one legged squats Bulgarian splits squats
these are all helpful this

 

[Amathanda]

As Seeknelk stated, the knees over toes guy exercises on youtube (Ben Patrick) is a complete gamechanger. It literally saved my hunting career after dual hip replacements and torn meniscus in both knees. I was resigned to cancelling my upcoming African safari until I found out about it. I had tried everything possible for 7 years with limited success. Could not recommend it more highly. All his the stuff on youtube is free or you can buy his book for like $20 on amazon.

 

[Hunterscamera]

I'm sure this guy is absolutely right. It's sound logic, really. But if anyone catches me in the wood tippy toeing around, avoiding a step like that. Please give me a talking to

I watched this video and noticed that my forestry (we hike 2-5 miles of timber a day) coworkers that are 50-60 yrs old actually walk exactly like that. They never complained of knee pain so surely it works.

 

[43.6N]

Strengthen your secondary stabilizers by working hamstrings via hamstring curls and quads via leg extensiosns.

And your posterior chain. From calves to neck. It will help support every other knee specific movement and exercise posted on this thread. Everything is interconnected with biomechanics.
Pain in one specific location does not always mean that’s where the problem is at.

 

[aftriathlete]

All this that everyone is saying is important. I prepped for a big NZ trip in the mountains last year in the gym, and I'm glad I did. But I think it's critical to prep your knees for sidehilling, and the only way I know to do that is to do that. Find some hills to sidehill. I was plenty fit enough for what I was asking my body to do, but 7 or 8 days of actual time in the mountains and not on a stairclimber in a gym really did a number on the ligaments and tendons on the medial and lateral knee from the stress of sidehilling,

 

[EdP]

No doubt sidehilling puts a lot of stress on body parts that straight line exercises don't touch. Good recommendation.

Something I learned hunting some hilly country in LL Bean hunting boots is that the lack of good ankle support puts additional stress on the knees.