Lead with Your Bad Leg

I was talking to my father the other day after I hurt my knee and was explaining that it hurt most when I was walking down steps. “Do you know that you should lead with your bad leg when you’re walking DOWN steps?” he asked, “Are you leading with your good leg or your bad leg?”


Well, I was trying to stay off steps altogether but when I couldn’t avoid them, I was always leading with my good leg, up or down. Dad explained that you should lead with your good leg when going up steps and lead with your bad leg when going down. This seemed counterintuitive and I was a little skeptical. He clarified that this method allowed your bad knee to remain straight, and it was bending the knee that caused the pain.

Hmm, that made some sense. I tentatively tried it. It worked! It has in fact been an absolute revelation to me as I nurse this bad knee of mine. Dad has been giving me advice and helpful hints all my life, of course, but he really outdid himself this time.

I have carefully structured my life so that I can avoid navigating long flights of stairs if need be, but the sad fact is that everywhere I go there seem to be “a couple of steps” that absolutely can’t be avoided. There is a step or two to get into my house. There are two steps at work that separate me from the restroom, the front desk, the mail, the coffee, the conference room and a couple of key co-workers.

Before Dad tipped me off, navigating these few steps was torture, and set the knee back a little every time I attempted them. Now I just lead with my good leg going up and my bad leg going down! I never have to put off going to the restroom again. I am grateful for that.

More than that, though, I now know that now, in an absolute emergency, I can slowly and carefully navigate an entire flight of steps. Say I am literally dying of thirst at work and the only thing that separates me from the bottles of water in the refrigerator in the kitchen downstairs is a long, daunting flight of steps. No problem! One step at a time I can get to the water.

Or, say the whites are in the dryer in the basement at home, I am totally out of clean socks, and my husband isn’t home. One step at a time, I can go to the basement to get some socks. I never have to go barefooted again.

Yes, armed with this important technique, a good Ace knee bandage, and some knee-shaped ice packs, I can conquer the world! Thanks, Dad.