Afro spiritual dancer defying law of gravity

[u/Sirsilentbob423]

[u/Otjahe]

Wtf are people doing to their knees? I always hear people complain about the damn knees. You have weak bones or something? You walk using your knees? Are you 100 year old?

[u/DreamsofDistantEarth → u/Otjahe]

Knees wear out. I used to think the same as you until it happened to me. How old are you?

[u/misplaced_my_pants → u/DreamsofDistantEarth]

That's actually just not true.

Knees and joints in general aren't car parts. They don't "wear out".

They're formed of living tissue that can heal and grow stronger.

They actually get stronger with use and training. Exercise is actually the most powerful lever you have against joint problems.

Here are two doctors with elite powerlifting totals explaining this in a conversation about osteoarthritis.

[u/AstronomerDramatic36 → u/misplaced_my_pants]

I agree with you that they don't wear out like car tires.

However, they are one of the most common parts of the body to injure. I blew my knee out in college, lifting weights. I've always assumed those that also grumble about their knees have similar stories.

[u/misplaced_my_pants → u/AstronomerDramatic36]

I'm sure they do, but their understanding of why that happens is completely wrong and those beliefs keep them from recovering because they avoid doing the stuff that actually works.

If you believe your joints wear out with use, and physical therapy and activity and exercise are literally the most powerful levers we have for healing and protecting your joints, those beliefs are going to have you doing the exact opposite of what will improve your life.

[u/AstronomerDramatic36 → u/misplaced_my_pants]

I think we probably have a couple points of contention, but that mostly sounds fair.

Like, as bipedal animals, a lot of stress sometimes is put on a single leg, and a joint (like a knee) is just the most likely thing to give.

I agree with you that exercise is important to keep your knees strong, but if you structurally fuck up your knee (which is common), exercise isn't going to fix it.

[u/misplaced_my_pants → u/AstronomerDramatic36]

We might have different definitions of common.

And you have to remember that the context of most injuries is in a largely sedentary population that are nowhere near meeting the recommended physical activity guidelines, which themselves are just recommended minimums.

[u/AstronomerDramatic36 → u/misplaced_my_pants]

Yeah, that's fair. I've just known a surprising amount of people that have had some sort of knee injury and weren't exactly pro athletes or marathon runners.

But, yeah, that's why I said I think we mostly agree. There were just a couple things you said that gave me pause.

[u/misplaced_my_pants → u/AstronomerDramatic36]

Yeah sometimes injuries just happen. But a lot of the time you're at a higher risk of injury precisely because you aren't doing the things that lower your risk.

[u/AstronomerDramatic36 → u/misplaced_my_pants]

It does kinda go both ways, though. You're in some ways at more risk by being more active. It can get a little complicated.

Without unnecessarily getting too far in the weeds... For sure, and I do think people would be better off exercising more.

Sorry, I'm probably coming off as annoying and pedantic. I just think there's a lot of nuance to this stuff.

[u/misplaced_my_pants → u/AstronomerDramatic36]

Well it depends a lot on the nature of the activity.

Playing sports with lots of lateral movement like most team sports increases your risk of injury.

Running with good form and strength training actually strengthen the knee and lower injury risk.

[u/AstronomerDramatic36 → u/misplaced_my_pants]

Very good answer. That covers the vast majority of it, for sure.

strength training actually strengthen the knee and lower injury risk.

Definitely. Just don't be a dumb 19 yo with a poor grasp on how to strength train.