The #1 mistake that makes bad knees worse is a lack of exercise.
Not getting enough exercise is the number 1 mistake people with bad knees make which can make the bad knees worse.
Exercising by walking, jogging etc can help improve knee function when you have bad knees.
Even simply walking daily can improve knee function when you have bad knees.
There are other things that make bad knees worse which include.
Smoking, for instance, dehydrates the muscles, cartilage, and other soft-tissues in your knee.
Being overweight puts extra stress on your knee, increasing your risk for injury.
Not getting enough quality sleep also deprives your knee of the rest it needs to regenerate cells.
High-impact exercises can further injure painful knees.
Avoid jarring exercises such as running, jumping, and kickboxing.
Also avoid doing exercises such as lunges and deep squats that put a lot of stress on your knees.
These can worsen pain and, if not done correctly, cause injury.
The worst exercises for people with bad knees are full-arc knee extension (using the machine at the gym), full-deep lunges, deep squats, and Hurdler's stretches as these exercises put excessive strain on the knee joints, increasing pain and causing injury.
Osteoarthritis, a chronic degenerative condition, is the most common form of arthritis of the knee.
Occurring more often in people over the age of 45, OA is a progressive disease that wears down the cartilage in the knee joint.
As the cartilage wears down, the space between the bones is reduced.