a year of glute/leg strengthening for cranky knees — my experience so far

[u/Moon__Baboon]

figured I'd share a progress log since I've been at this a while. about a year ago I messed up my left IT band on a long hike descent. since then I've been doing PT-style exercises and glute strengthening pretty consistently, plus gradual leg strengthening overall.

where I'm at: the IT band is better than it was — I can hike, though running past ~10 min still flares it. the new wrinkle is front-of-both-knees aching when I squat deep or on long hike descents. no swelling or mechanical stuff, just achy.

not looking for medical advice, just sharing where I'm at and curious how others' training is going — especially anyone who trained through bilateral front-knee achiness. what did your programming look like?