Why do my legs hurt after climbing a mountain?

Many elderly people may feel some pain in their legs when they run up the stairs even if they don’t climb mountains, not to mention that they will feel more pain in their hind legs after climbing mountains, or even so much pain that they can’t walk normally at all. The reason for this is that they overuse their knee joints. Because most of the elderly suffer from bone hyperplasia, they must warm up before climbing mountains so that they can stretch their muscles well.

The first thing is to understand your physical condition before climbing, especially your cardiovascular function, joint function, and knee joint function. Due to the degeneration of joint function in the elderly, they may not feel anything when walking on flat ground, but when climbing a mountain, it will cause excessive load, aggravate joint degeneration, and even some joint symptoms that do not usually appear will appear when climbing a mountain.

The second is the time to climb the mountain. We do not recommend mountain climbing very early in the morning in big cities because the air quality is not very good at that time. For some elderly people or people with poor respiratory function, this kind of mountain climbing itself does not have much benefit for them.

In addition, mountain climbing is a very heavy-load sport. A person's heart function can normally withstand some activities, but during the mountain climbing process, it is easy for the heart to be overloaded, leading to the sudden occurrence of some cardiovascular diseases. This is not what we call scientific exercise for the elderly or for people who climb mountains. Mountain climbing is not a sport suitable for everyone.

The human knee joint has a shock absorber called the meniscus, which is two crescent-shaped pieces of cartilage located at the intersection of the femur and tibia. It acts like a cushion to disperse weight. In addition, the knee joint also has another tissue called articular cartilage, whose function is to reduce friction during movement between bones. However, when climbing, the pressure on the knee joints is 4 to 5 times that of walking on flat roads. If you climb mountains frequently, these "shock absorbers" will be frequently worn out, which may cause chronic injuries to the knee and ankle joints, excessive wear of the joints, and secondary arthritis. Many elderly people suffer from bone hyperplasia and experience leg pain when climbing stairs. One of the reasons is related to overuse of the knee joints.

If you want to climb mountains to exercise your body, you have to consider everyone's actual situation. If your health is not so good, don't force yourself to climb the mountain for too long. You should also pay attention to the time of climbing every day. If the air quality is not so good, it is best not to climb the mountain in the morning, especially for patients with respiratory diseases. They should not choose this time to climb the mountain.