Asked by Anonymous - Why Does Knee Pop When Walking Up Stairs : I have never had knee problems in my life but now my knee kind of "pops" right in front of the knee cap area.  This happens whenever I go up stairs, and it hurts mildly.  Its fine walking around and seems to be find shortly after that, but when I go up the stairs again on each step it feels like I need to be carefull stepping.  What would causet this to start happening?  As I said I have never had knee surgeries or knee pain before or anything like that.

Anonymous Says: Do you sit alot with your job daily?

Anonymous Says: Here is why I'm asking, and this is some pretty good information I'll pass along as I had a similiar situation.  I do alot of sitting daily at a desk, and as you get into your 30s and 40s, your legs will get really weak from lack of exercise.  I think it is why my knees (both) started making a little popping sound which seemed similiar to yours, mine was right below the knee cap in front where I would get pain there taking stairs.  The strange thing is I did workout nightly, but not really any leg workouts.  I suspected that may be the problem so I started out by walking nightly for 30 minutes.  I was even getting some mild knee popping then, but that was still mild compared to the knee popping when I went up stairs.  I started by doing the walking 4 days a week, I couldnt do any leg weights because I was afraid to try it at that time.  The amazing thing here was that after about 3 or 4 weeks of doing that, I noticed my knee popping was rarely occurring on the stairs!  I was surprised as I wasnt sure that would help or not, but once I realized that I started doing light jogging the 2nd month with walking, and after a couple months my knees didn't pop again or hurt again on any stairs. I realized then I had to exercise the legs and today I do leg weights and fast walking.   By the way its been years since that was happening, I workout 4-5 days a week and my knees have never popped or hurt again since that time period.  Its pretty crazy but it shows how bad all that sitting is for the legs.  I think back to how bad it might be had I never discovered that and started doing that, hopefully this helps you past that.

Anonymous Says: By the way other options are getting a good stationary bike so you can do 30 minutes in your house, jump rope in garage (but thats hard, you need to do something longer), etc.  I think there are alot of things you can do but just getting outside and walking (walk as if you are in a hurry to get somewhere) for 30 minutes is pretty easy to get done daily.  For doing leg weights I go to the gym obviously but I think just the other stuff would be enough (was for me, but I started doing leg weights anyways later on).

Anonymous Says: This is one of those things where you better nip it in the bud RIGHT NOW because you will reach a point where it will be much harder to recover as you get older.  Start small, get walking for 20-30 minutes, you add to it after a few months but you must start doing something.  Its a lifestyle change, not something you temporarily fix.

Anonymous Says: Start doing some leg press if your community has a gym there.  This pressing motion is critical because as I found out, your legs get really weak sitting at a desk all day, even more so as you get older.  I started doing 10 reps on leg press and was shocked how knee strain I felt.  I've never had knee problems, and even a light weight created knee strain.  That tells me how weak my legs have become.  After 2 months of leg weights (3 times week, and gradually worked my way up to 5 sets each of those days), the knee strain is completely gone.  I'm also lifting heavier weights now and knee strain isnt there, I realize now that this is something I need to keep doing, because nothing else can strengthen this way and your legs will get WEAK sitting all day even if walking or jogging, its almost like I was starting over.

Anonymous Says: As you get older its more and more important to stand up and walk around every hour, thats why apple watch is a popular feature for buzz reminder every so often to get up.  There is something to that where blood flow or something greatly helps to get that little exercise even if its just 5 minutes of walking every hour.  You cant just sit at a desk all day long, as you get older you will be sorry.

Anonymous Says: One thing is for sure, if you aren't walking or exercising with weights or doing something throughout the week as you get older, and are spending alot of time just sitting around, as alot of people above already said you will have all kinds of knee and hip problems.  If you wait until later to start exercising it will be to late, it has to start when younger because the body deteroriates (spelling?) as you get beyond age 35.

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