Is Walking Good for Knee Arthritis? How to Keep Walking Without Repeated Flares
By Emma - The Hip & Knee Physio
If you have knee arthritis, walking can become surprisingly complicated.
You might feel stiff for the first few minutes, then loosen up.
Perhaps you can walk comfortably for 20 minutes but find the knee aching later that evening.
Or longer walks, hills and uneven paths may have gradually disappeared from your routine because you are worried that walking is wearing the joint out.
The short answer is reassuring:
For most people with knee osteoarthritis, walking is safe and worth continuing.
The more useful question is not whether walking is good or bad.
It is how much walking your knee currently tolerates and how you build from there.
In brief: is walking good for knee arthritis?
Yes. Walking is a form of aerobic physical activity and can help maintain fitness, walking capacity and general health in people with knee osteoarthritis.
Current Australian guidance recommends physical activity and exercise as core treatments for knee osteoarthritis and specifically reassures people that exercise does not damage the joint.
However, the right walking dose varies.
If longer walks, hills or faster-paced walking repeatedly leave your knee substantially more painful, swollen or stiff, you may need to adjust the distance, pace, terrain or frequency rather than stop walking completely.
I’m Emma Glynn, an APA Titled Musculoskeletal Physiotherapist with more than 13 years of experience and a clinical focus on hip and knee rehabilitation.
Why can knee arthritis hurt when you walk?
Knee osteoarthritis affects more than just the cartilage.
Changes can involve the whole joint, including the bone, joint lining, menisci and surrounding muscles.
Your symptoms can also be influenced by things such as:
how much activity you have done recently
muscle strength
joint swelling
sleep
general health
previous flare-ups
confidence in the knee
That is why walking with knee arthritis does not always feel predictable.
You might manage a particular distance comfortably one week and struggle with it the next.
That does not automatically mean the arthritis has suddenly become worse.
Sometimes the knee is simply more irritable because of the total amount of activity it has had to deal with.
Does pain after walking mean you are damaging the knee?
Usually, no. Pain and structural damage are not the same thing.
The 2024 Australian Osteoarthritis of the Knee Clinical Care Standard specifically advises that exercise is safe for people with knee osteoarthritis, including people with severe osteoarthritis.
Some discomfort during activity can occur without the knee being harmed.
What matters more is how the knee responds during and after the walk.
A mild ache that settles reasonably quickly is very different from walking that repeatedly causes:
substantial swelling
a worsening limp
marked loss of movement
escalating pain
symptoms that remain clearly worse the following day
A temporary flare often means the current walking dose was more than the knee was ready for, rather than proving that walking itself is harmful.
How much should you walk with knee arthritis?
There is no universal distance, step count or number of minutes that suits everyone.
Someone who can comfortably walk for an hour needs a very different plan from someone whose knee starts to flare after ten minutes.
A better approach is to find a starting amount your knee tolerates reasonably consistently. For example, if:
15 minutes feels comfortable
30 minutes produces a manageable ache
60 minutes reliably causes a significant flare
then 60 minutes is probably not the best starting point simply because that is how far you used to walk.
Start closer to what the knee currently tolerates and build from there.
Use the response afterwards as your guide
One simple clinical approach is to look at what happens later that day and the following morning.
This is not a scientifically validated 24-hour rule. It is a practical way of monitoring the knee’s response.
Ask yourself:
Did the discomfort remain manageable?
Did the knee swell noticeably?
Did I start limping?
Did the knee become much stiffer?
Was ordinary walking harder afterwards?
Was it somewhere near its usual level by the next day?
If your knee repeatedly remains clearly worse the following morning, reduce the next walking dose.
That might mean changing the:
distance
pace
hills
terrain
frequency
It does not necessarily mean giving up walking altogether.
What should you change if walking keeps flaring your knee?
You usually do not need to change everything at once.
Shorten the walk
If one long walk consistently causes a flare, try a shorter distance.
Two shorter walks may sometimes be easier to tolerate than one long one.
Reduce hills temporarily
Hills change the demands on the knee.
Walking uphill and particularly downhill can feel more difficult when the quadriceps are weak or the joint is irritable.
You do not need to avoid hills forever.
You may simply need to build flat-ground tolerance first.
Slow your pace
Walking faster generally increases the physical demand.
If symptoms are flaring, slowing down may allow you to stay active while reducing the overall load.
Choose an easier surface
Uneven tracks, steep descents and cambered surfaces may be more challenging than flatter, predictable paths.
During a flare, choosing an easier route can help you keep moving.
Change one thing at a time
If you simultaneously increase your distance, pace, hills and frequency and the knee flares, it becomes very difficult to know what exceeded your current tolerance.
Progress one variable at a time where possible.
Should you rest if walking causes a flare?
Usually, you do not need to stop everything.
A short-term reduction in aggravating activity can be sensible when the knee is particularly irritable.
But prolonged complete rest can lead to:
reduced walking tolerance
loss of strength
lower general fitness
less confidence returning to activity
The aim is usually to modify rather than eliminate activity.
If a 40-minute walk repeatedly flares the knee, perhaps 20 minutes is manageable while symptoms settle.
You can then rebuild from there.
If the knee is substantially swollen, normal walking has become difficult or movement is noticeably restricted, it may need more than a simple change in walking distance.
My guide to knee swelling that won’t go away explains persistent and recurrent swelling in more detail.
Is walking enough exercise for knee arthritis?
Walking is useful, but it may not be enough on its own.
The latest research supports aerobic exercise for knee osteoarthritis, and walking is one way of achieving that.
However, walking does not necessarily provide enough stimulus to substantially rebuild strength in the:
quadriceps
glutes
calves
Those muscles matter when you are:
climbing stairs
walking uphill or downhill
getting out of a chair
carrying loads
hiking
returning to sport
That is why knee arthritis rehabilitation often combines aerobic activity with progressive strength training.
If you want to know what strengthening may look like, read my guide to knee arthritis exercises.
I also cover the broader exercise evidence in What Is the Best Exercise for Knee Arthritis?.
What does the research say about walking and exercise?
The 2024 Australian Osteoarthritis of the Knee Clinical Care Standard recommends physical activity and exercise as core management for knee osteoarthritis.
It advises that exercise is safe for the knee and should be tailored to the individual’s ability, symptoms, priorities and preferences.
A large 2025 systematic review and network meta-analysis published in the BMJ included 217 randomised controlled trials involving more than 15,000 people with knee osteoarthritis.
Aerobic exercise performed particularly well overall for improving:
pain
physical function
walking performance
quality of life
Strengthening and mixed exercise programs also improved function.
There is an important limitation, though.
This evidence compares broad types of exercise.
It does not tell us that everybody with knee arthritis should walk for a particular distance or number of minutes.
Your walking plan still needs to reflect your current capacity, symptoms and goals.
What about footwear?
There is no single shoe that treats knee osteoarthritis.
For most people, the practical starting point is footwear that:
feels comfortable
fits properly
lets you walk confidently
suits the terrain you use
If one pair consistently feels more comfortable than another, that is useful information.
A walking aid may also help some people with more symptomatic knee osteoarthritis, particularly when pain, balance or confidence is limiting activity.
Why are stairs and hills harder than flat walking?
That is very common.
Stairs and hills generally ask more from the quadriceps than level walking.
So if flat walking is manageable but hills or stairs are difficult, simply doing more flat walking may not solve the problem.
You may need more targeted strength work alongside your walking.
That is one reason I prefer to treat walking as one part of knee rehabilitation, rather than the whole program.
When should knee pain after walking be assessed?
Consider an assessment if:
your comfortable walking distance is progressively falling
the knee repeatedly swells after walking
you are increasingly avoiding hills, stairs or everyday activities
the knee gives way
you experience true locking
pain is regularly disturbing your sleep
you are unsure whether your symptoms are actually due to osteoarthritis
you have tried modifying activity but the symptoms continue to worsen
you want to stay active but are unsure how to progress
A physiotherapy assessment may look at:
knee movement
swelling
quadriceps and hip strength
walking
stair and step function
current activity levels
how the knee responds after exercise
what you actually want to return to
The aim is not simply to tell you to walk less.
It is to understand what is currently limiting your walking and what needs to improve.
For a broader overview of knee osteoarthritis management, visit my knee osteoarthritis information page or read Non-Surgical Treatment for Knee Osteoarthritis.
So, is walking good for knee arthritis?
For most people, yes.
Walking is a useful form of physical activity and can help maintain fitness, function and independence.
You do not need to avoid walking simply because you have knee osteoarthritis.
You may, however, need to adjust:
how far you walk
how often you walk
your pace
how much hill work you do
the surfaces you choose
how walking fits around your strength training and other activities
The goal is not to discover one perfect distance that applies forever.
It is to build walking capacity gradually as your knee becomes more capable.
Looking for knee physiotherapy in Ivanhoe or Heidelberg?
If knee arthritis is limiting your walking, stairs, gym, hiking or everyday activity, an individual assessment can help work out what your knee currently tolerates and what may need to improve.
The booking page has the most up-to-date information about clinic location and appointment availability.
Emma
References
Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care. (2024). Osteoarthritis of the knee clinical care standard. Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care.
Moseng, T., Vliet Vlieland, T. P. M., Battista, S., et al. (2024). EULAR recommendations for the non-pharmacological core management of hip and knee osteoarthritis: 2023 update. Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases, 83(6), 730–740. https://doi.org/10.1136/ard-2023-225041
Yan, L., Li, D., Xing, D., et al. (2025). Comparative efficacy and safety of exercise modalities in knee osteoarthritis: Systematic review and network meta-analysis. BMJ, 391, e085242. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj-2025-085242
Disclaimer
This article provides general educational information and does not replace individual medical or physiotherapy advice.
Seek prompt medical assessment if you develop a hot, red or markedly swollen knee, fever, inability to bear weight, significant trauma, unexplained calf swelling, shortness of breath or other rapidly worsening symptoms.
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