Knees hurt? This exercise can help

Ms Caitlin Berzok used to be scared of strength training. She occasionally exercised with ankle weights, but worried that heavy lifting might slow her down or lead to injury.

- Hilary Achauer

NEW YORK - Ms Caitlin Berzok used to be scared of strength training. She occasionally exercised with ankle weights, but worried that heavy lifting might slow her down or lead to injury.

In 2015, she got serious about running, progressing from shorter races to marathons. Just a year later, she started having chronic knee pain. Soon, she could barely run more than 1.5km.

Ms Berzok, then 29, tried resting, stretching and working with a physical therapist, but nothing helped.

Then a new physical therapist had her try weightlifting with a kettlebell, starting light and eventually working up to 40 pounds (18kg). She would leave a session drenched in sweat after wide-legged squats, curtsy squats, Bulgarian split squats, Romanian deadlifts and lunges.

"I never knew there were so many different types of squats," Ms Berzok said.

Within a year, she was back to running marathons pain-free. And, over the years, she has kept lifting.

Frequent knee pain affects about 25 per cent of adults. While a generation ago, experts often recommended rest and ice to alleviate knee pain, evidence now suggests that strength training can reduce pain and increase range of motion.

"Stronger muscles help distribute the load more evenly across the knee," said Dr Nima Mehran, an orthopaedic surgeon in Los Angeles who specialises in the knee.

Building muscles reduces the amount of stress on the joint, he said, and it can also improve alignment, which in turn helps prevent injury.

"People think that strength training will hurt their knees or cause further damage," said Dr Leada Malek, a physical therapist in San Francisco who specialises in sports medicine and is the author of Science Of Stretch.