Knee pain

Knee pain is often a result of an improper gait (how the foot contacts the ground in walking).  This is due to the muscle contraction on the outside of the leg.  The lateral thigh muscle in contraction pulls on the outside of the knee cap and cause pain in the whole knee.  People often notice knee pain after extensive exercise especially hiking uphill – and downhill.  But even using the leg press at the gym can aggravate the condition.  This is because most people when exercising will try to achieve a little more weight on the weight machine or endurance on a hike by overusing the muscles on the outside of the leg.  In the long run they are not building up endurance as much as aggravating an out of balance condition.  This can be counteracted by consciously using the point on the foot between the first and second toes with each step, or push in the case of a leg press.  If the inside muscles of the leg give out the best thing to do is to build up those muscles gradually by continuing to use the foot in the way it was designed to be used.  Constantly overusing the muscles on the outside of the leg can also result in a gait that uses the outside of the foot for weight bearing.