Knee Pain in Midlife?

How to Avoid the Biggest Cause of Knee Pain in Midlife

Knee pain has four common triggers: osteoarthritis, poor alignment, tightness, and—perhaps the biggest culprit—muscle weakness.

Yes, knee pain is common, especially as you age.

But it’s not inevitable! 🙌

Strengthening the muscles that support your knees can help prevent or relieve pain, keeping you mobile and active.

Let’s explore a simple way to protect your knees and move with confidence.

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Why This Matters

Frequent knee pain affects about 25% of adults, limiting mobility, reducing function, and dramatically impairing your overall quality of life.

FITNESS SIMPLIFIED

Muscle weakness is one of the biggest culprits behind knee pain.

Weak glutes (this is a BIG one), hamstrings, quads, inner and outer thigh muscles, and even a weak core can all contribute to stiff, painful knees.

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Fitness Tip to Relieve Knee Pain

Strengthen Your Knees

If you want strong, pain-free knees, focus on two key things:

1️⃣ Maintaining good alignment when bending and flexing your knees

2️⃣ Strengthening your glutes, hamstrings, and quads

Here are the best exercises to build knee-supporting strength and stability!

Easy Knee Strengthening Exercises

Glute Bridges & Physioball Hamstring Curls - Do 8-15 reps of each
Banded Squats - Do 8-15 reps. I find that the band really makes a difference if you get knee pain when you squat!
Split Squats - Do 6-10 reps per side (this is best if you can do the squats & bridges without any pain and have good control over your alignment).
Box Step-Ups - Do 6-10 reps per side (watch your knee alignment on the way up AND the way back down).

Extra tip: If you’re starting at square one with building your knee strength (in other words…they’re reeeeally weak!) following this gentle knee strengthening progression could be just the ticket!

Did You Know...

When you bend into your knee and then straighten back up (flexing and extending), proper alignment is crucial to keep your knee healthy! Focus on keeping your kneecap aiming toward your middle toes, not your big toe or pinky toe.

Many women have “knocked knees” - or what’s called valgus knees - which is a HUGE cause of knee pain in everyday life. Strengthening your glute max, glute medius and hamstrings can really help with this.

If your core muscles are weak, you could feel it in your knees. With weak core muscles, everything below your core may “droop” and move with less stability. Building your core will inadvertently build stronger knees! (Need a good core training program? Click here!)

NUTRITION SIMPLIFIED

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Your mom was right—you need to eat your fruits and veggies!

Eating more produce has huge benefits, including better blood sugar control and improved digestion—two areas that can get trickier in midlife.

‍Nutrition Tip Of The Week

Eat More PROduce!

Fruits and vegetables provide:

- Essential vitamins and minerals

- Phytonutrients that help lower the risk of cancer, diabetes, and heart disease

- Antioxidants that fight free radicals, which contribute to various health conditions

The list of benefits from produce goes on and on and on…

So how much produce do you need?

Aim for 2 servings of different produce with each meal.

Most adults should build up to eating 8-12 servings per day. 😳

One serving =

1 medium fruit

1 fist-sized portion of cut fruit or raw/cooked veggies

1 large handful of leafy greens

A quick way to get 3+ servings without cooking?

Try a smoothie like this one!

‍The Best Steak Marinade

More Ideas For High-Protein Foods:

Two handfuls of mixed berries with your yogurt or oatmeal at breakfast.
One handful of leafy greens plus one fist-sized amount of cucumber, sliced carrots & tomatoes for a salad at lunch.
One fist-sized portion of roasted veggies plus one medium apple at dinner.

MINDSET SIMPLIFIED

Should You Push Through Pain or Rest It?

As women who “do it all,” we often ignore discomfort and push through pain.

If you’re dealing with muscle soreness, tendinitis, arthritis, or nerve pain, you’re not alone!

In 20 years of training thousands of people, I have yet to meet someone who hasn’t faced pain at some point—including myself.

When pain shows up, we tend to do one of two things:

- Panic and assume the worst

- Or ignore it and hope it goes away

Neither is the best approach.

So what should you do?

Be an active participant in your healing process!

Address what’s causing your pain and take the necessary steps to move forward and heal.

Don’t just wait and hope for things to improve—there’s still SO much you can do to support your body and keep moving forward.

Mindset Tip To Strengthen Your Upper Body

Don’t push through pain!

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THE TAKEAWAY

Knee pain is common, but with smart strength training, proper nutrition, and an active approach to healing, you can recover faster, and keep moving forward.‍