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Do Trekking Poles Help Your Knees? What the Research Says
A practical look at downhill knee loading, what biomechanical studies actually show and how trekking-pole technique can affect the benefit.
Why the Descent Often Gets Your Attention
The climb may challenge your lungs. The descent can place a different kind of demand on your knees and legs.
If your knees tend to become noticeable late in a long descent, you are not imagining that downhill hiking feels mechanically different from climbing or level walking.
Trekking poles are often recommended as a way to make descents more comfortable and controlled. There is credible biomechanical evidence behind that idea, but the answer is more nuanced than saying poles simply "take pressure off your knees." Terrain, technique and the individual hiker all matter.
Quick Answer
What the Evidence Supports
- Trekking poles can reduce several measures of knee and lower-limb loading during downhill walking
- Poles provide additional points of contact and can help control a descent
- Research has also found lower-extremity loading benefits while descending with a backpack
- Technique and terrain influence how much assistance the poles provide
What Poles Do Not Promise
- They are not a treatment for knee pain or injury
- They do not guarantee pain relief or prevent injury
- Research on level walking is mixed and does not support a universal unloading effect
- Persistent or significant knee pain deserves appropriate medical assessment
Why Descents Can Be Hard on Your Knees
Downhill Walking Changes the Mechanical Demands
Walking downhill requires your lower body to control your forward and downward movement. Your quadriceps work eccentrically as they help control knee flexion and manage each step down the slope.
Laboratory comparisons of downhill and level walking have found some of the largest changes in joint moments and muscle mechanical power at the knee. That helps explain why long descents can feel very different from level walking, particularly after fatigue has accumulated.
Steeper Terrain Increases the Challenge
Slope, walking speed, step length, pack weight and individual movement patterns all affect lower-limb loading. This is why a steep mountain descent with a backpack cannot be reduced to one universal number for "force on the knee."
Control Matters
Shorter, deliberate steps and a controlled pace can help manage the demands of descending. Trekking poles add another tool by giving the hiker two additional contact points with the ground.
What the Research Actually Shows
Useful Evidence, With Important Limits
One frequently cited laboratory study examined eight healthy men walking down a ramp declined at 25 degrees, both with and without hiking poles. The researchers reported significant reductions of approximately 12% to 25% in several measured variables, including ground-reaction force, knee-joint moment, and calculated tibiofemoral compressive and shear forces when poles were used.
That is meaningful biomechanical evidence, but it is important to describe it accurately. It was a small controlled study measuring joint-loading variables. It was not a clinical trial showing that trekking poles cure knee pain, prevent knee injuries or produce a specific percentage reduction in pain.
What About Hiking With a Backpack?
A later study involving 15 experienced male hikers examined downhill walking with no pack, a day pack equal to 15% of body weight and a larger pack equal to 30% of body weight. Pole use reduced several lower-extremity joint moments and reduced peak power absorption at the ankle and knee across the pack conditions studied.
Level Walking Is a Different Story
The evidence is not uniform across every type of walking. A 2011 study of 10 healthy participants found that even substantially increasing the force applied through hiking poles during level walking did not reduce calculated knee-joint compressive force. Other level-walking studies have reported different kinetic changes depending on technique.
Research Behind This Article
Schwameder et al.: Knee joint forces during downhill walking with hiking poles. The study found reductions in several knee-loading variables during a controlled 25-degree descent.
Bohne and Abendroth-Smith: Effects of hiking downhill using trekking poles while carrying external loads. The study found reductions in several lower-extremity loading measures across the backpack conditions tested.
Jensen et al.: Is it possible to reduce the knee joint compression force during level walking with hiking poles? The study did not find a reduction in calculated knee compression during level walking.
These studies help explain the biomechanics, but they should not be interpreted as proof that every hiker will experience less pain or avoid injury.
How Trekking Poles Can Help on Descents
Load Sharing, Stability and Better Control
Share Some of the Work
A purposeful pole plant allows your arms and upper body to contribute as you step down, rather than asking your lower body to manage every part of the movement alone.
Add Stability
Two additional contact points can be useful on loose rock, roots, mud, scree and uneven steps where balance and foot placement become more demanding.
Control Your Pace
Planting the poles slightly ahead can help you move down steep terrain deliberately instead of allowing momentum to dictate your next step.
Where the Benefit Is Most Intuitive
- Long or steep descents
- Loose and uneven terrain
- Large natural steps and ledges
- Hiking with a loaded backpack
- Late-day fatigue
- Situations where extra balance is useful
What Trekking Poles Cannot Do
A Useful Tool Is Not the Same as a Treatment
Trekking poles should not be presented as a cure for knee pain. They cannot diagnose or repair an injured meniscus, ligament, tendon, cartilage problem or another underlying condition.
They also do not guarantee that a hiker will remain injury-free. Biomechanical studies can show changes in measured forces, moments and movement patterns, but those findings are not the same as proving injury prevention in real-world hikers.
If knee pain is persistent, significant, worsening, associated with swelling or instability, or follows an injury, seek assessment from an appropriate healthcare professional. If you are returning to hiking after an injury or procedure, follow the guidance of your clinician or physiotherapist.
Technique Matters
Owning Trekking Poles Is Not the Same as Using Them Effectively
Set a Useful Starting Length
On relatively level ground, a common starting point is a pole length that places your elbow near a right angle when the tip is planted beside you. Treat that as a starting point rather than an absolute rule.
Adjust for the Terrain
Many hikers prefer slightly shorter poles on sustained climbs and somewhat longer poles on descents so they can plant farther down the slope without excessive bending. The best setting depends on the steepness, terrain, body proportions and personal comfort.
Plant With Purpose
On a descent, simply carrying the poles or tapping them lightly beside you provides little opportunity for meaningful load sharing. Place the tips securely and apply controlled pressure through the poles as you step down.
Use the Straps Correctly
With a conventional trekking-pole strap, bring your hand up through the loop and then settle your hand onto the grip so the strap can support the heel of your hand. Adjust the strap so it supports you without restricting circulation or movement.
Let the Rhythm Become Natural
On ordinary terrain, many hikers settle into an alternating pattern similar to natural arm swing. More technical terrain may require both poles to be placed deliberately before a larger step. The goal is control, not forcing one pattern onto every trail.
Who May Benefit Most?
Think About Terrain, Pack Weight and Fatigue
Mountain Hikers
Long descents, steep grades, scree and irregular steps create frequent opportunities to use poles for additional support and controlled movement.
Backpackers
A loaded backpack increases the demands of hiking. Research on downhill walking with external loads supports the idea that poles can reduce several lower-extremity loading measures.
Hikers Managing Fatigue
Extra contact points can become particularly useful late in a long day when precise foot placement and balance require more attention.
Hikers who already experience knee discomfort may also find poles useful, but equipment should not substitute for understanding the cause of persistent pain.
Choosing a Trekking Pole
The Details Matter When You Intend to Load the Pole
A Dependable Locking System
If you are using poles to support part of your weight on a descent, the adjustment system needs to hold the selected length securely. It should also be straightforward to adjust when terrain changes.
Comfortable Grips and Straps
Grip shape, material and strap adjustment become increasingly noticeable over a long hiking day. A secure, comfortable hand position makes purposeful pole use easier.
Carbon or Aluminum?
Both materials can make excellent trekking poles. Carbon fiber is valued for low weight and vibration damping, while aluminum is generally more tolerant of bending and hard impacts. The better choice depends on how and where you hike.
For a detailed comparison, read Carbon or Aluminum Trekking Poles: Which Is Right for You?
The APEX Verdict
Useful Evidence Without the Marketing Hype
Trekking poles are not a cure for knee pain. But on descents, there is credible biomechanical evidence that properly used poles can reduce several measures of knee and lower-limb loading.
On Descents: The Evidence Is Useful
Controlled studies support reductions in several knee and lower-extremity loading measures when poles are used during downhill walking.
For Knee Pain: Understand the Limits
Individual comfort may improve, but poles should not be marketed or understood as treatment, guaranteed pain relief or proven injury prevention.
Research Information Reviewed August 2026
This article summarizes biomechanical research on trekking-pole use and lower-extremity loading. Study populations were small and the findings should not be generalized into medical treatment claims.
Key references: Schwameder et al., 1999; Bohne and Abendroth-Smith, 2007; Jensen et al., 2011.
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