The 5-Pound Wake-Up Call: How Small Weight Gains Affect Your Joints

Think five pounds is no big deal? Your knees might disagree. We unpack the surprising biomechanics behind everyday movement and reveal how small changes in body weight multiply into big forces on your joints. With clear numbers, relatable examples, and a few “wait, what?” moments, Kat Cortado breaks down the four-to-one pressure rule—how each extra pound can add roughly four pounds of load to your knees with every step—and why that adds up to tens of thousands of pounds across a single mile.

We explore why stress on joints often rises nonlinearly as weight increases, especially when age-related cartilage thinning narrows your margin for error. Kat shares a candid story about navigating knee changes and demystifies how cartilage cushions bone, what happens when it wears down, and why stiffness often appears before obvious pain. You’ll hear how even modest weight loss can reduce inflammation, improve mobility, and dramatically cut the risk of knee osteoarthritis, referencing research that found a near 50% risk reduction with a 10-pound loss for people with overweight.

Then we get practical. Learn how low-impact activities like walking, swimming, and cycling strengthen the muscles that protect your knees and hips. Understand the kinetic chain—from foot and ankle mechanics to hip control—and how better alignment distributes forces more evenly. We also map out simple nutrition shifts that support joint comfort: anti-inflammatory foods, adequate protein, and hydration that keeps cartilage gliding. No perfection required, just small, consistent choices that stack over time. If your goal is to move with ease and keep doing what you love, this conversation gives you the science, the strategy, and the nudge to start today.

If this helped, follow the show, share it with a friend who needs a boost, and leave a quick review to help more people find practical, science-backed wellness.

Chapters

• 0:01 Welcome And Mission
• 0:44 Sponsor: Small Space Pilates
• 1:16 Why Five Pounds Matters
• 2:24 The Four-To-One Knee Pressure Rule
• 3:20 Compounding Load And Cartilage Wear
• 4:34 Nonlinear Stress And Aging Joints
• 6:16 Relief Through Small, Consistent Changes
• 8:03 Action Steps For Joint-Friendly Living
• 9:58 Key Takeaway And Closing

Transcript

SPEAKER_00: 0:01

Welcome to Sisters in Service Podcast. Most of you know me as a strong advocate for women veterans in being recognized not only as veterans, but also as women who are changing the world through our passion of serving, even after service. This podcast is my passion by telling all the stories of military brats, military spouses, active duty, and veterans. Not to forget the veteran service organizations that help us along our transition journey. I want to thank you in advance for listening. I hope that you will join me every week. A new podcast and episode comes out every Tuesday. So I hope that you will join and I hope that you enjoy. This podcast is brought to you by Small Space Pilates. Are you ready to get fit and fabulous from the comfort of your own home? Look no further than Small Space Pilates. With live online Pilates and strength training classes, a video library, and a no perfection allow policy, you can achieve your fitness goals without ever leaving your house. Click on the link for your complimentary week and start your journey to feeling fabulous today. Hi everyone, and welcome back to the latest episode of Why Not Wellness? This podcast asks the simple questions behind how we live, move, and take care of ourselves. I'm your movement specialist, Kat Cortado, and we're talking today we're talking about something that sounds almost a little trivial. Think of the number five. Five dollars, five pieces of candy. What about five pounds? Five pounds doesn't sound like much, right? A small bag of flour, a large house cat. Well, yeah, five pounds. Well, five pounds would be a kitten. Anyway, I digress. Or a few bottles of water. But when it comes to our body, especially your joints, those five pounds can actually make a big difference. So today we're exploring the science and the stories behind how even a small change in body weight affects your knees, your hips, and your overall joint health, and why more than five pounds over time can really add up. So let's start with a simple question. How much pressure do your joints actually take on a daily basis? So we carry our weight around everywhere with us. We can't just take it off and put it somewhere. So when you walk, run, or even go upstairs, your joints, especially your knees, bear more than your body weight. Research from the Arthritis Foundation and several orthopedic studies show that every extra pound you carry adds roughly four pounds of pressure on your knees. Let me say that again. Every extra pound you carry adds four pounds of extra pressure on your knees. Think about it for a second. How many of us are carrying around more LBs than we want to? Might be two, might be five, might be more. Multiply that by four, and you'll know exactly how many pounds of pressure are on your knees. So let's do the math. Five extra pounds equals about 20 additional pounds of force on every step you take. Now consider that the average person takes around 2,000 steps per mile. That means your knees are absorbing an additional 40,000 pounds of cumulative pressure every mile, just from five extra pounds of body weight. You don't feel it right, or maybe you do. And we say, Oh, my knees are hurting. So keep this in mind. I was kind of blown away by all of this math because I'm not a math person. I'm just gonna say that. That's like carrying a medium-sized dog around for every mile you walk. And while our joints are strong and built to handle load, that chronic repetitive pressure can slowly wear away the cartilage, the smooth cushioning tissue that allows bones to glide easily against each other. I just had a knee issue several months ago, and I was bone on bone in my knee. There was no pain, however, which is the weird thing, no pain at all. And I started thinking about, you know, my knees and my joints, but also our good old friend Arthur, Mr. Arthritis, you know, oh yeah, that's coming for you too. So you've got five extra pounds or more, all of this weight on your joints, and the pressure on your knees, and and and pretty soon your joints say, I'm done. So over time that wearing tear can lead to pain, stiffness, inflammation, and even osteoarthritis, the most common form of arthritis. So here's the fascinating part the effects of extra weight on your joints aren't linear. In other words, doubling your weight doesn't just double the stress on your joints, it can multiply it. That's why gaining just a few more pounds beyond the first five can have a dispor disproportionately, that's a word for you, larger effect. At 10 extra pounds, your knees experience about 40 pounds of added pressure per step. At 20 extra pounds, there's 80 pounds of extra force every single step. That's why orthopedic surgeons often see a sharp rise in knee pain, hip pain, and back discomfort among people who gain even modest weight, especially as we age and our cartilage wears away naturally and it thins out. It's also why maintaining or even losing a few pounds can make such a visible difference in how your joints feel from day to day. There was a landmark study from Johns Hopkins who found that losing just 10 pounds in overweight adults reduced the risk of developing knee osteoarthritis by nearly 50%. Yeah, that's huge. And it shows how responsive your joints are to even small changes. So it's not just about the numbers, it's about time. So imagine you're in your 30s, 40s, or 50s carrying those extra five, 10, maybe 20 pounds year after year. That's not a short, that's not considered short-term stress. That's millions of steps and millions of tiny impacts that your cartilage has to absorb. Cartilage doesn't regenerate easily. Once it's damaged, it's difficult for the body to repair it. That's why people often start to feel stiffness or even a dull ache in their knees long before there's any visible swelling or pain. But here's the good news your joints can recover function. If you relieve the pressure early enough, weight loss, even modest, can reduce inflammation in the joint lining, improving mobility and delay or even prevent arthritis progression. Who knew? Well, I kind of thought so, but I didn't know no, you know what I mean. So when you think it's just five pounds, remember that to your knees, hips, and ankles, it's not just five pounds, it's thousands of pounds of extra work every single day. All right, so how do we make this actionable? So if you're starting to think about this, it's it's resonating with you. You know, what do you do? Well, you start moving. Low impact activity like walking, swimming, cycling can actually strengthen the muscles around the joints. So consider this for just a second. Everything from your foot through your ankle up to the knee, and everything from your hip down, the front of the thigh, the back of the thigh, your internal, external rotators tie into at some point into your knee. That's a lot for your little knee to take. I don't care how big you are or how small you are. So moving consistently. So remember that even small weight loss, so some people think, oh, I've only lost a pound. What? One pound times four, that's four pounds of pressure that you've relieved off of your knees and your other joints. So even five to ten pounds can dramatically ease joint stress and pain. Remember, food, fuel wisely, anti-inflammatory foods like leafy greens, salmon, nuts, olive oil can support joint health and reduce swelling. Last but not least, stay aware, joint pain isn't just about getting older. And please don't say that. Oh, I must be getting older, my knees hurt. No, I I refuse to say that. It's feedback from your body. Listen, don't just assume that it's just the way it is. So next time you hear someone say it's just five pounds, maybe think of it differently. Those five pounds can mean the difference between moving with ease or moving with pain. Your joints are the foundation of every step you take, literally. So take care of them and they'll carry you farther, longer, and with a lot more comfort. So, thanks for tuning in to Why Not Wellness? So, if you enjoyed today's episode, subscribe and share it with someone who you think might need a little nudge to take that next step. Yeah, I intended to say that. So I'm Kat Cortato, your movement specialist, reminding you every small choice counts and wellness starts with why not. So until next time, take care. Bye.