Help! My knees are f**ked! (And other midlife exercise tips)

This blog will focus on what to do if your knees feel like they've seen better days (especially in perimenopause).

If your knees have started creaking, aching or generally giving you gyp, you're far from alone. One of the most common symptoms women report during perimenopause and menopause is dodgy-feeling joints.

And no, you haven’t suddenly aged into decrepitude overnight. Much like many midlife symptoms, a lot of it comes down to oestrogen. Or more accurately, the lack thereof.

Oestrogen and your joints

Oestrogen does a lot more than just control your menstrual cycle. It plays a big role in keeping your connective tissues supple and your joints well-lubed. When levels drop, tissues can become a little more lax (or more stiff, just to be confusing), and tendons may actually become thicker and less elastic.

That means the body isn’t as forgiving as it once was when you run, jump, bop, mosh (if you still do that, go you if so) and the impact can land squarely (and painfully) on your poor ol' knees.

So what can you do when said knees feel f*cked, but you still want to work out, stay strong, and move well?

Glad you asked. Here’s Kelly's tried and tested three-step method for getting your body back on track

Not always the knees? Jeez, Louise.

Sometimes it’s not your actual knees that are the problem. It’s what’s happening above or below them. If your hips are tight as, your ankles stiff, or your bum muscles not doing a good enough job, your knees end up taking the brunt of it all.

Start by improving hip mobility. Deep lunges with a twist, hip flexor opening work.

Even five minutes a day can make a big difference in how your knees feel when you squat or walk up stairs.

Here's a special blog reader treat - this 10 minute Hip & Back routine is from our Sculpt course. Give it a try and tell us your hips don't feel loosened up a treat!

Strengthen the support acts

When your knees are feeling like shite, most people stop wanting to work out legs, but unfortunately that’s the exact opposite of what helps long-term.

We just need to shift the focus onto strengthening your posterior chain. That’s your glutes, hamstrings and hips. These muscles support the knee joint and take some of the pressure off the quads (the thigh musles which often do the literal heavy lifting of life).

Here are a few staple moves (which, of course, we do loads of in our FitBtch courses):

• Glute bridges or hip thrusts

• RDLs (Romanian deadlifts)

• Hamstring curls

• Side-lying or banded glute work

Building stronger arse muscles and lovely flexible hamstrings can dramatically reduce knee pain and make your whole lower body feel a lot better and able to stay stable into old age.

Find ranges and movements that work for YOU

You don’t have to be able to squat your arse all the way to the floor. You don't have to power through pressing loads that make you grunt like an overdramatic Wimbledon player to have strong legs. There are loads of alternatives that still strengthen the quads and glutes without aggravating your knees.

Try:

• Sumo squats (wider stance can ease pressure on the knees)

• Step-ups (often less painful than lunges)

• Split squats with a smaller range of motion

• Wall sits for controlled quad strength

Again, we cover all these moves (with moderations explained) in our workout libraries.

The goal should be pain-free movement, not ticking pushing yourself too hard or just ticking off random moves. Find what works for you, what's easing your knee pain after a couple of weeks, do more of that and don't bother with what doesn’t. Or, y'know. Sign up to FitBtch, drop Kelly a line for advice and have a go.

New knees, please?

The bottom line is this: if your knees are grumbling, it doesn’t mean they're completely fked forever or you can use them as an excuse to not start getting fitter and stronger (we see you!). It just means your approach needs a bit of a revising, a midlife tweakment if you will.

Our advice will always be to improve mobility, build strength where it helps the rest of the body the most and find movements that feel good. And this shiz should always feel good. Even the DOMs should feel like a sense of accomplishment, not a punishment!

The run up to menopause isn’t the time to stop moving.

It’s the time to change it up to suit your time of life - socially and physically. You just need the right combo of movement, strength work and patience. Not another couple of painkillers and a moan to all who'll still listen about getting old. Because you're not. You're just getting started, you glorious slag!