Meniscus Tears: How to Keep Moving

Over the past month, we’ve looked at stress, sleep, nutrition, and movement — both their impact and what you can do to improve them.

Next, we’re shifting focus to something most people deal with at some point: niggles, injuries, and things that just don’t feel the same as they used to. Because the reality is — we still have to move in everyday life.

Meniscus Tears: How to keep moving

So instead of pushing through discomfort or avoiding it completely, the goal is to understand how to move and exercise with it in a way that’s safe, realistic, and effective.

Over the next few articles, I’ll be breaking down some of the most common issues I see — and showing you how to keep moving without constantly making things worse. Because you don’t need a perfect body to start.

Starting with Knee Pain: Meniscus Tears

Knee pain is one of the most common things I see — both in classes and in 1:1 sessions.

Most people aren’t starting from scratch. They’re already managing something — stiffness, discomfort, or a knee that just doesn’t feel as strong or reliable as it used to.

Soft tissue work, like massage, can sometimes help reduce discomfort and improve how the area feels — but it’s usually only one part of the picture.

One issue that comes up again and again is a meniscus tear.

It’s also something I’ve dealt with myself, having torn the meniscus in both knees — so I understand not just what it is, but what it’s like to keep moving with it.

What Is a Meniscus Tear?

The meniscus is a C-shaped piece of fibrocartilage in the knee that helps absorb shock, distribute load, and stabilise the joint.

Each knee has two, and they play a key role in how your knee handles movement and force. A tear can happen:

• Suddenly — through twisting, pivoting, or awkward loading

• Gradually — through wear and tear over time
  

Often, it’s not just one incident. It can reflect how the knee has been loaded over time, alongside movement patterns and the joint’s ability to tolerate that load.

If You Haven’t Had One — Prevention Matters

A lot of knee issues don’t come out of nowhere — they build over time. If your knees are currently feeling good, this is where you stay ahead:

• Build strength through controlled ranges

• Don’t rush depth or load before you’re ready

• Include single-leg work to improve stability

• Strengthen glutes and hamstrings to better share load across the lower body
  

And importantly — stay consistent. It’s not about doing more, it’s about doing enough, regularly.

Managing a Meniscus Tear

If you are dealing with one, the approach needs to be realistic. Completely stopping long-term usually isn’t helpful — but short-term reductions in activity can be necessary, especially if symptoms flare up.

At the same time, ignoring it and pushing through pain doesn’t work either. The middle ground is where progress happens:

• Keep the knee moving within a comfortable range

• Avoid positions that aggravate symptoms (especially deep or twisted loading early on)

• Gradually rebuild strength and control

• Give it time to adapt
  

This is how I coach it — and how I’ve had to approach my own training too.

Training in a Way That Supports Your Knees

In my strength and conditioning sessions, the focus is on building strength without unnecessary joint stress.

That often means reducing high-impact or high-load movements early on, and reintroducing them gradually if appropriate. Instead, we focus on:

• Controlled strength work

• Adjusting range where needed

• Slowing movements down to build control

• Strengthening glutes, hamstrings, and quads

• Adding balance and stability work
  

This approach allows people to keep progressing without constantly flaring things up.

Don’t Skip the Basics: Mobility, Stretching & Foot Mechanics

This is where a lot of people fall short.

If muscles around the knee feel stiff or restricted — especially quads, hamstrings, and calves — it can affect how movement feels and is controlled. Mobility and stretching can help:

• Improve comfort

• Maintain range of motion

• Reduce the feeling of stiffness
  

Foot and ankle mechanics also play a role. If your feet roll inwards, for example, it can influence how force is distributed through the leg — which may affect the knee in some people. Things to be mindful of:

• Wearing appropriate, supportive footwear or insoles if needed

• Being aware of foot positioning during exercises

• Avoiding excessive inward knee collapse during movement
  

Small adjustments here can make a big difference over time.

This is why I use a mix of equipment in sessions — kettlebells, dumbbells, resistance bands, activation bands, Pilates balls, and Swiss balls — to help improve muscle activation, co-ordination, and overall movement control.

The Role of Self-Massage & Movement

Alongside strength work, I also include self-massage techniques — something I’ve seen make a real difference over the years. Using tools like foam rollers, spiky balls, and balance pods, we combine:

• Massage

• Movement

• Strength
  

This can help:

• Improve mobility

• Reduce stiffness

• Ease discomfort

• Improve overall movement quality
  

We’ll often work through areas like:

• Feet

• Calves

• Hamstrings

• Glutes

• Hips

• Lower back
  

Because the knee is rarely the only factor — it’s usually part of a bigger picture. Often, areas of stiffness and weakness exist together, which is why both mobility and strength matter.

Knowing When to Step Back

There’s a difference between manageable discomfort and something that needs rest. If the knee becomes:

• Sharp or acutely painful

• Swollen

• Difficult to put weight on

Then it’s worth reducing activity.

Initially:

• Elevate the leg

• Use ice if it helps manage pain or swelling

• Give it time to settle

Then build back up gradually — not all at once.

Final Thought

Knee pain — even something like a meniscus tear — doesn’t mean you have to stop training. But it does mean you may need to train differently.

With the right balance of strength, mobility, and awareness, you can stay active, keep progressing, and feel more confident in how your body moves.

And that’s the goal.

But the meniscus is only one piece of the picture when it comes to knee pain.

Not every stiff, achy, or unreliable knee is the result of a tear — and in many cases, especially as we get older or have trained for years, the underlying issue is something different.

One of the most common I see alongside — or instead of — meniscus-related pain is arthritis in the knee joint.

That brings its own challenges, but also its own way of training and managing it effectively.

I’ll cover that next.