Hiker knee health?

[Perry]

This topic is surprisingly popular. I've found that doing lunges with weight solves all my former knee problems. I believe this is because it strengthens the quads and ligaments by stimulating high tissue growth with minimal tissue breakdown. The key is doing them slow and controlled. Low weight, high reps. I do 50 (25 each side). If anybody else tries this I would recommend first doing it without any weight. Temporary muscle soreness is inevitable.

[magikwalt]

Sourmash will make the pain in your knee disappear. Too much of it will also make the trail disappear, hence my fondness for XC hiking.

[Hikin_Jim]

LOL

[Rob]

drndr, ditto to what others said about hiking poles.

Switching from knee care to foot care, I've been hiking for half a year and have developed a callus on the ball of one foot. Should I expect that callus to be a permanent fixture due to hiking?

[Hikin_Jim]

... I've been hiking for half a year and have developed a callus on the ball of one foot. Should I expect that callus to be a permanent fixture due to hiking?

I think calluses are often a function of one's boots. With one set of boots, I may develop a callus in spot "X" which disappears when I switch to another set of boots. If a particular boot is causing a callus, sometimes that's just the way it is and you live with it. Calluses aren't typically a big deal. One can however, try varying sock configurations, adding insoles and the like. One call also try taping one's feet, using moleskin, etc, but given that calluses are typically no big deal, taping and the like seems hardly worth the effort.

[Cy Kaicener]

I have solved the problem. Do Skyline every week and take the tram down