Use It Or Lose It: The Answer for Sore Knees

26 January 2006

The idea that exercising that arthritic knee will worsen your pain and increase “wear and tear” on cartilage sounds logical, but just doesn’t stack up, according to new research.

In fact, moderate regular exercise reduces knee pain and stiffness and improves the quality of knee cartilage, according to a Swedish study of 35 to 50 year olds published in Arthritis and Rheumatism magazine.

The study underlines medical advice for those with knee osteoarthritis (OA) – your personal choices influence the quality of life you enjoy.

For those with mild to moderate knee problems, putting in place the “two ‘M’s” - Modest weight loss, and Moderate exercise - nearly doubles your chances of reducing knee pain and stiffness and retaining competence over daily living tasks.

Research behind this new thinking includes the first large randomized clinical trial – ADAPT – (the Arthritis Diet and Activity Promotion Trial) to test whether exercise and diet singly, or combined together, got best results.
Some of the startling findings from this and other 2005 studies:

• Modest weight loss and moderate exercise together were far more effective than either dieting or exercise alone.


• Losing as little as 15 pounds results in nearly 50 percent improvement in knee osteoarthritis (OA) symptoms.


• Weight loss was in some cases more effective than drugs in controlling knee pain.


• 30 minutes of exercise needs to be done “most days.” The good news - you can build up your 30 minutes over the day in three 10-minute periods and gain the same health benefits as one continuous 30-minute session.


• Losing 1 lb results in a 4lb reduction in knee joint load for each step and equals 4800 lbs per mile walked. Lose 10lbs, each knee would be subjected to 48000 lbs less in compressive load per mile walked.


• Experts generally recommend losing no more than 1 – 2lbs a week. To lose 1 lb a week, you need to create an average 500-calorie deficit each day, for 2 lbs 1000 fewer calories a day.


• To create a 1,000-calorie deficit, you could aim to eat 500 fewer calories each day and burn 500 more through exercise.


• A 150-pound woman will burn 100 calories for every mile walked. Exercising longer, not harder, burns more calories.

Enter your personal details in the calorie use calculator and learn more about just how many calories you are using.

Go gently, have fun, and keep at it.

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