Daily walking and issues

What type of shoes are you wearing? I found a decent pair of joggers made the world of difference to my knees

^^ what @mbaker5666 said. Might want to order a brace too ($15 Amazon). I can't tell if it's helping or not yet, but it makes me aware of what I'm doing when it hurts -- for example, favoring the ball of my foot because I have a blister on my heel, which then puts my knee at a weird angle.

I wear Asics Gel and walk in the woods rather than on pavement. Here are the exercises my physical therapist gave me for my bad knees; official diagnosis "pain with activity."



I also do these between sets when I'm lifting weights or when I am in a boring conference call (doing the whole thing all at once may be too challenging at first):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yLoMA7I7HOQ&feature=youtu.be

I started walking just 20 minutes but between doing knee strengthening exercises and walking regularly, I am now up to 75 minutes, plus hills. Or I was before this hot weather kicked my butt

A better, more supportive pair of shoes might make a big difference. Snug fitting socks may help (sounds wierd) but slouchy socks may allow your foot to slip.

Stretching afterwards may help: http://www.thewalkingsite.com/stretching.html
Some people need more stretching than others.

Walking outdoors is low impact, not non-impact. Pool walking is great if you have access. A rebounder (mini trampoline) makes walking, and jogging even....lower impact.

FWIW, when I started walking for exercise I started getting a pain in my knee that did not seem to want to go away even during regular-day to day-around the house walking so went to an orthopedic doc. They took x-rays, the doc looked at them, asked me to lay down on the table with my knee bent, pressed on an area that was directly to the inside edge of my lower knee cap and I nearly jumped off the table in pain and punched him.

He diagnosed a bone bruise (bruising inside the bone so no discoloration). Something I had never heard of. Checkout "bone bruise" on the internet. The Doc is the team doc for some of our local pro and college teams. He said it is commonly found in athletes such as basketball players who are pounding the courts....and overweight, non athletes who begin a repetitious activity. R.I.C.E. for recovery. He was very confident in his diagnosis and I believe he was right.

If your leg has hurt for more than a week visit the doc. You're not so huge that walking shouldn't be easy. (Sorry that's a bit of a back handed complement!)
Get the leg sorted first, then try walking again.
Good luck.

As people mentioned...get fitted for some good shoes. That makes all the difference. Wear a knee brace. I'm on my 3rd time running, and have been running this time for over 2 years. I've worn a knee brace all this time until recently. It helps with pain, and now I can run up to 6 miles without one. I do a lot of exercises where you have to squat-kettlebells swings, lunges, squats.

Agree about the footwear. I'm hypermobile and my feet and knees are pretty badly damaged, as a result of going undiagnosed for years. Basic but well fitting running trainers make me so much lighter on my feet. Best brand and model will be different for everyone, but for me, it's the pretty basic Nike Dart X1 - quite rigid support for my ankles, without being too constraining, wide sole, so I don't cockle over easily (I have a tendency to lose my balance, so this is important for me!) a little arch support (not enough to be classed as stability trainers for running, but enough to make a big difference walking) and the sole is curved at just the right angle to put a bit of a spring in my step and discourage me from pounding my heels. Until I started wearing them for long walks, I had almost an inch difference between my calves, as one was so badly affected by a pretty ancient foot injury that's I'd never quite recovered from. For the first time in over a decade, the difference is imperceptible because they've reduced my ankle and knee pain so much.

Sadly I can only wear them in half decent weather because they're draughty and get wet through. I don't mind getting my old pair wet when it's 18C, in summer, but not when it's 8C, in autumn!