Im getting old. Any and every tip that would make a knee feel good wpuld be highly appreciated!!!
Ill go first! I have some knee pads for biking. If im being lazy, they just keep my knees warm and loose. However, i wouldnt use em on the treadmill because they can slide down and become a trip hazard. Ive heard a lot of people have exercises they do to soothe the knees
Movement . If you didn’t screw anything up already then movement is always better . No tendon problems or tears . Your not specific here
The question is a little broad. If I just want my knees to feel good, in a vacuum, I’d probably really focus on keeping my weight down and doing a lot of leisurely walking, biking, swimming.
If we’re talking about longevity in a sport or avoiding injury when training for a powerlifting competition or rehabbing previous problems while coming back to competitive marathon running, those will all come with different opinions.
To just keep lifting as long as possible, which I can probably stop being pedantic and safely assume is the premise, some thoughts that come to mind:
- Wear neoprene knee sleeves
- Keep my bodyweight under control
- Do lower-impact cardio
- Hamstrings before squats!
- Don’t force uncomfortable movements
- Keep rep ranges a bit on the higher side
I’m sure there’s plenty of other stuff. There also comes a point of “what for?” Like playing basketball hurts my knees, but I like to play, so what am I saving my knees for? Am I going to somehow play more 15 years down the road because I didn’t play today? So I just try to balance this stuff out - like play a time or two a week and then make sure I ice them afterward kind of thing.
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My primary motive for trying to minimize knee (patella tendon) discomfort was for increasing thigh development. @TrainForPain added a list, of which I used most of them and I highlighted the ones I used
My patella tendons were tender, but if I did a large number (9) of warmup sets on squats, I could do my working sets pretty much pain free. A large biproduct of the large number of warmup sets was that my shoulders were well stretched and comfortable before I got to the working sets. My first set with the bar only was nearly impossible to position my shoulders into the proper location. I looked ridiculous trying to squat with the bar only, and 135lbs wasn’t much better.
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Broad request, so a broad answer. The #1 culprit of knee pain in the over 40 crowd is poor hip mechanics, usually being stuck in anterior pelvic tilt (APT). If a joint is lacking, the load goes up or down the kinetic chain to the next joint. So sore knees often means they are correcting for hips. Could also be for ankle inflexibility (if you can’t squat without heel lifts, your ankles are also an issue). If it’s your hips, your back might also be unhappy (always sore post workout). A lot of guys always wear a belt for every lift. Find one and I’ll bet you’ll see how they can’t quite stand up straight. This is APT in action. So, goigle APT and try some corrective exercises. A more concise question will get a more concise response.
Final thought, I am fanatical about form, so if myknees hurt, I squat. If my back hurts, I dwadlift. This is because I know those patterns very well and doing those reasserts good mechanics. If you hurt after doing those, look to cleaning up your lifting mechanics.
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Cut off your legs.
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Though it seems very counterintuitive, my lower back could often get very tight. So much so, that I could barely get down well enough to reach the bar to do a bent over barbell row. The bare bar hurt. 135lbs hurt a little less. We would pull off the 45lb plates and put on the 110lb plates. By then my erectors seemed to align my spine to the place that all pain subsided. I continued to warmup to my working sets. My back pain was gone.
The same back pain was there when I began to squat. My flexed erectors would begin their spinal alignment as I warmed up. There was no back pain by the time I got to my working sets.
I was not as fortunate with my patella tendons. Anything over 500lbs I worried I would rupture them on the next rep. I set 500lbs as my mythical poundage limit.
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Keep your calves & feet limber. Roll them out with a rolling pin. Dont forget the tibialis anterior. Roller ball your feet, and work your way up from there.
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Identify the root cause then stop doing it
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You mean, posting?
Razor Ramon Mortontoe approves. 
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All hail the mighty toe… Should make a little crown to wear on it
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Marine77, what am i looking at here?
Other than some real nice toes!