Knee pain is a very common problem for people that are overweight. This is especially true for people over the age of 40. Much of this is due to the fact that the knees are put under an enormous amount of stress for each step that we take. As each of our steps hit the ground we send a shockwave of stress up to our knee. This is due to our foot hitting the floor with the stress of our bodyweight behind it. The more overweight you are, that harder this shockwave is on your knees. How hard? Well, there is a mathematical explanation…

As you walk, the stress placed on your knees (as we take a stride) can be up to two times your bodyweight. This means if you’re 150 pounds, you can put up to a 300 pound stress factor on your knee each time you take a step. That’s a lot of weight. Now, say you gained 50 pounds and are now 200 pounds in body weight. Now your stress level for your knees is 400 pounds. That’s a whole 100 pound difference from your starting weight. You do the math for whatever the number is that you’re overweight.

Even if you’re not too much overweight you can still experience knee problems due to the extra knee stress, sooner or later. For example, even a 30 pound gain puts up to 60 extra pounds of stress on your knees for each step you take. Over time this can have a huge impact on your walking ability. Granted, it may take several years or maybe even a decade for the problems to surface, but when they do it won’t be fun.

If you’re overweight, the best thing you can do for your knees is to lose the extra weight, even if they’re not a problem right now. I’ve seen too many older people neglect their knees their whole lives and pay for it the mid-life and up years.