Jo Whiley, 61, says one easy move is ‘a secret weapon’ for knee and hip pain – all you need is a coffee-table book

One day you’re leaping in and out of chairs like it’s a party game. The next, you’re lowering yourself on to the sofa when – from nowhere – a sound somewhere between a groan and a grunt escapes you.

At least you’re not alone. In one large survey (with 6,792 respondents), 47% of people over 50 reported knee pain in the previous 12 months. ‘I’ve got hip issues and I’ve got knee issues,’ said Jo Whiley in a recent episode of her podcast Dig It. ‘I find it very, very frustrating the things that I can’t do,’ she adds. ‘And there’s just something in my head that doesn’t want to accept that I’m not capable of doing things that I used to be able to do.’

Luckily, you don’t have to. At least, not entirely. ‘If I could encourage every woman to start strength training, even if you just try it for four weeks and see the difference in your mindset, then I would say go for it,’ she adds. ‘It’s like a hidden superpower.’ Key among the strength training exercises? Squatting, which, according to Whiley, is ‘a secret weapon’.

What causes knee pain?

NHS guidelines explain that ‘knee pain can occur without an accident or injury [and] can the result of simple functional activities like getting up from a chair or kneeling.’ But why?

‘As we move into our 40s and beyond, knee aches become increasingly common,’ explains strength training coach Caroline Idiens on her blog. We naturally lose muscle as we age, unless we actively work to maintain it. Called sarcopenia, this process – combined with decreased tendon elasticity and a gradual decline in cartilage resilience – has an impact on how well our knees hold up to normal daily activities, she explains: ‘If the muscles around your hips, thighs, and calves aren’t doing their job properly, your knee may not track as smoothly as it should.’

How can you help prevent knee pain?

‘If you build strength in your thighs, your quad muscles and your glutes… that can really support your knees,’ explains personal trainer Kate Oakley on Whiley’s podcast. The best way to do that? A simple squat can help reduce knee pain by strengthening the quadriceps, hamstrings, and glutes that support the joint.

Even if your knees aren’t giving you any problems, there are compelling reasons to make them part of your regular fitness regime, suggests Oakley, who specialises in working with midlife and menopausal women.

Why? Well: ‘If I was just to get up and down off this chair, that is a squat,’ she explains. ‘So we want to be thinking that in our older age, we want to be able to get out of the chair without having to press down on the arms. We want to be able to get out of bed, out of a car... so squatting is key.’

How can you start squatting?

Daunted? You’re not alone. The first step is to let go of any preconceptions that you have to lower yourself right down to the floor (and then somehow find your way back up again). If you’re just beginning, suggests Oakley, there are plenty of adaptations and variations you can make. Her top tip? Raise your heels on to a pair of coffee-table books.

From this position, says Oakley: ‘you’ll actually be able to get into that squat position, because sometimes it’s actually about your ankle mobility or the length of the bone and your thigh, your femur… this elevated squat where you raise those heels up can really, really help.’

An added bonus is that you can do it without any specialist equipment and in the privacy of your own home. Where no one will hear you groan.