"So I am a few pounds overweight. How can that be such a big deal for my knee pain?"

"So I am a few pounds overweight. How can that be such a big deal for my knee pain?"


Consider that with activities of daily living and modest exercise, 2 to 6 lb of force are generated across the knee joint for every pound of a person's body weight.4 For some activities, forces across the patellofemoral joint can be as great as 20 times body weight.

In performing bending, kneeling, and climbing activities, for example, a 30-year-old woman with knee pain who weighed 120 lb at age 18 years, before her 3 pregnancies, and now weighs 285 lb is carrying an extra 165 lb of body weight.

That can result in an additional 660 lb of force across the patellofemoral joint with each step.
**source**