Walking is one of the safest forms of exercise you can do – take a look at the health benefits it can bring -and walking exercises all the major muscles in your legs.
Your knee joints are marvelous things - just look how they support your weight and allow you to walk - they deserve looking after!

Here are some guidelines which will help you to avoid minor problems with your knees

• Start by walking slowly and build up to a brisk pace – imagine a car going through the gears – this should be you as you gradually get your body ready for walking!

• Walk at a steady pace and try not to bring or stamp your feet down too hard on your walking surface - this only jars your body - walking should flow and not need to be fierce.

• Striding out to go faster can heighten the risk of injury so if you want to walk faster just increase the number of smaller steps you take.

• Make sure that you wear well fitting, cushioned shoes that provide support for your feet – worn shoes can be bad for both your feet and knees. Click here for info on choosing walking footwear.

• If you suffer from flat feet do take extra care that you wear properly fitting shoes.

• Be extremely careful when walking down inclines/hills, don’t rush.

• Use walking poles/walking sticks, which help to take the weight off your knees and transfer it to your arms.

• Choose a walking surface that is level and not too hard - concrete is very hard – dry grass is one of the best surfaces.

• One of the most common causes of knee injury is being overweight or obese. Your knees are supporting all that weight which puts extra strain on them - so be kind to your knees and try and lose some weight – see Steps One and Two of the walking plan.

• Remember to cool down your body and muscles by walking slower towards the end of your walks

If you should experience knee pain then you should stop walking and seek advice from your health professional. They can also recommend exercises and stretches that will strengthen your knees.
The muscles you need to work on are the quadriceps muscle - made up of four muscles at the front of the thigh - you use them to straighten your leg from a bent position and the hamstring muscles, which bend the leg at the knee, and are at back of the thigh.

Enjoy your walking!