The physiotherapist tells her to lift her leg off the table by ten centimetres. Laura, who is 49, bites her lip. Her knee shakes, her face tightens and after three seconds she lets it fall back with a dull sigh. “I used to run for the bus in heels,” she says, half joking and half angry. In the rehab room around her, the same story keeps coming up: a former football player, a young mother with a torn meniscus, and a retiree who just wants to garden again without hurting every time she squats.
Everyone has been told the same thing: “Do light exercise.” They did laps in the pool, Pilates on a mat, and watched stretching videos on YouTube. Some people felt a little better, while others just felt lost. There is a simple, stubborn question behind the vague advice: what really helps with painful knees?
Not the answer you think it is.
Why your knee hates some “good” exercises and loves one in particular
Every chair feels lower than the last and every staircase looks like a mountain when your knee hurts. You start to plan your life around avoiding pain: you don’t tie your shoes while squatting, you don’t kneel down to play with the kids, and you don’t go on long walks without checking where the nearest bench is. People tell you to move “gently,” so you sign up for a Pilates or swimming class, hoping that the water or the soft movements will make everything better.
Yes, it does help a little sometimes. But the stiffness comes back the next day. When you stand up after a movie, the grinding feeling is still there. You start to wonder if “gentle” is just a polite way of saying “this won’t really change anything.”
Take Marc, who is 57 years old, works in an office, and used to play basketball. His doctor says, “You have osteoarthritis in both knees.” He freaks out, stops playing his weekly game, and jumps into the pool three times a week because “everyone knows swimming is best for the joints.” Two months later, his fitness has improved, his lungs are happy, but what about his knees? Not really. It still hurts to get into his car, and walking down a hill still makes that sharp pain under his knee.
His physiotherapist finally sees him walk, checks his strength, and then says calmly, “You’re not weak because of osteoarthritis; you’re in pain because your thighs and glutes aren’t working right anymore.” So they begin a new kind of work. Not as cool as front crawl. A lot more effective.
The truth is that your knee doesn’t work on its own. It’s stuck between your ankle and your hip and depends on how strong and controlled everything else is. Swimming and Pilates can be great for your overall health or flexibility, but they don’t always give your knee what it really needs: targeted, progressive muscle strengthening around the joint while standing and moving. Experts keep talking about that mysterious “best activity” that is surprisingly simple on paper: structured, low-impact strength training that focuses on the legs and hips, especially in closed-chain exercises like walking, sit-to-stands, mini-squats, and step-ups.** Dry name, big effect.
The real “knee saver”: how to build muscle without hurting your joints
Don’t use heavy barbells or do workouts on Instagram. When physiotherapists and sports doctors talk about strength training for sore knees, they often mean something much quieter and almost boring: doing small, controlled movements over and over again to teach your muscles how to catch the load before your joint does. It starts with the basics. Sometimes all you need is your body weight.
One classic example is getting up from a chair. You lean forward a little and stand up slowly, then sit back down in three seconds. Your knees should be in line with your toes and your feet should be flat. That’s all. Three times a week for ten times. You lower the chair over the weeks, add a slow pause halfway up, and hold a light weight against your chest. It seems very easy. When done correctly, it changes how your knee feels on every step.
The biggest mistake is to hurry or copy what you see at the gym. You try lunges on the first day, your knee hurts, and you throw everything away, thinking, “Strength work just isn’t for me.” Or you put on too much weight too quickly because you used to be “strong,” and you spend the weekend with ice packs. This is where frustration makes you lose your drive.
We’ve all been there: when a new habit seems to make things worse instead of better. *That usually means that the progression is wrong, not that your body is hopeless. It’s not a sign of weakness to start with supported movements, partial ranges, or exercises near a wall or table to hold on to. It’s how they make strong knees for the future.
Dr. Amélie Robert, a sports doctor, says, “People think they need to do less to protect their knees.” Doing more of the right thing at the right dose is what will protect a painful knee in the long run. That “right thing” is to strengthen your quadriceps, hamstrings, glutes, and calves in a targeted way three times a week, with a little bit of effort. Pain can help us, but it shouldn’t be the boss.
Sit against a wall for 20 to 30 seconds with your knees slightly bent and your back against the wall.
Heel raises: while holding a chair, slowly lift your heels and lower them in three seconds. Do this 10 to 15 times.
Step-ups: Take a small step up and down slowly while holding onto a rail. Do 8 to 10 reps on each leg.
Glute bridge: Lie on your back with your feet flat. Lift your hips and squeeze your buttocks. Do this 10 to 12 times.
Take a short walk every day for 10 to 20 minutes on flat ground at a “conversation pace” without trying to do better.
A new way to look at your body: living with knee pain without stopping moving
When you hear that targeted strength work is the best thing to do for bad knees,
you might wonder how to fit that into your busy life with work, kids, and days when bending your leg feels like a deal. Let’s be real: no one really does this every day. Consistency over months is what makes a difference, not perfection over a week. It’s like brushing your teeth: sometimes you do it quickly, sometimes you skip it, but you always come back to it.
For a lot of people, working out their knees is less of a “program” and more of a quiet ritual. Ten minutes while the coffee is brewing. A wall sit before you take a shower. While brushing your teeth, raise your heels. You don’t need a fancy outfit or a perfect home gym. You need to listen to your pain without blindly following it, and you need to accept small, boring steps that don’t seem impressive… until one day you don’t think about which leg to put first when you take the stairs.
| Key point | Detail | Value for the reader |
|---|---|---|
| Strength beats “gentle” | Targeted, low-impact strength work around the knee is more protective than vague “gentle exercise”. | Helps you choose activities that really improve pain and function. |
| Start tiny, progress slowly | Begin with simple moves (sit-to-stand, wall sit, step-up) with low volume and small ranges. | Reduces flare-ups and keeps you motivated long enough to see results. |
| Function, not performance | Focus on walking, stairs, getting up and down, not on numbers or heavy weights. | Connects training to everyday wins you can feel quickly. |
FAQ:
- What is the single best activity if my knees hurt?Structured, low-impact strength training focused on the thighs, hips and calves, using exercises like sit-to-stands, mini-squats, step-ups and wall sits, two to three times a week.
- Can I still swim or do Pilates if I have knee pain?Yes, both can be great “bonus” activities for cardio and mobility, but they shouldn’t replace focused leg strengthening if your goal is to reduce knee pain and walk or climb stairs more easily.
- How much pain is acceptable during these exercises?A mild discomfort (around 3 out of 10) that settles within 24 hours is usually acceptable; sharp, sudden or increasing pain during or after the session is a sign to reduce range, load or volume.
- Do I need weights or machines to protect my knees?No, you can progress a long way with body weight, slow tempo, pauses and simple props like a chair, a wall or a small step; external weights can come later if needed.
- How long before I feel a real difference in my knees?Many people notice small improvements in daily actions within 3–4 weeks, with more noticeable changes in pain and confidence after 8–12 weeks of regular, adapted work.
