Pain-Free Knees From Butt Squeezes?

A physical therapy clinic in El Paso says a simple standing move, tightening the glute muscles as hard as possible for 10 seconds, can take pressure off knees that grind bone-on-bone.

Quick Take

El Paso Manual Physical Therapy released a video demonstrating nine standing glute exercises meant to ease knee arthritis pain.
The core move is basic: squeeze the glutes hard while standing and hold for 10 seconds, repeated in sets.
The clinic’s other videos and a written knee-arthritis guide repeat the same glute-focused approach across multiple formats.
Research on exercise and knee osteoarthritis backs pain and function gains, but it does not yet prove any single exercise cuts joint loading.

What The Video Actually Shows

The video, posted by El Paso Manual Physical Therapy, walks viewers through nine standing exercises built around one idea: activate the glute muscles to support the knee joint. The first move could not be simpler. Stand up, squeeze the glutes as hard as you can, and hold that squeeze for 10 seconds before releasing.

Later moves in the series add difficulty. The clinic includes mini lunges, mini squats with added weight, and a walking drill meant to keep the glutes firing with every step. The goal across all nine is the same. Strong glutes are supposed to help stabilize the hip and leg, so the knee joint takes less direct impact during daily movement.

A Pattern Across Dozens Of Clinic Videos

This is not a one-off idea for the clinic. A separate video called The BEST Glute Exercises To Help Knee Pain teaches the same squeeze-and-hold technique, describing it as pinching the glutes together and holding the contraction. Another video aimed at people trying to avoid knee replacement surgery repeats the instruction almost word for word, telling viewers to hold the squeeze for 10 seconds, rest, and repeat for 10 reps every hour.

The clinic’s written materials match the video content closely. A downloadable knee arthritis phase report instructs patients to practice glute holds lying face down, face up, seated, and standing, each held for 10 seconds, before progressing to alternating holds and bridge exercises. A blog post on the clinic’s website adds moves like tailgate swings, done for three to five minutes at a time, as part of a broader routine for bone-on-bone knee pain.

How This Fits Into The Bigger Knee Health Picture

Glute-focused strength work is not a new concept in physical therapy. Guidelines from orthopedic groups list supervised strength training, including hip and glute work, as a recommended approach for managing knee osteoarthritis pain. Reviews of exercise therapy consistently find it helps patients feel less pain and move better over eight to twelve week programs.

Where the science gets more careful is on the exact claim that squeezing the glutes takes pressure off the joint itself. A 2023 meta-analysis looking at exercise therapy and knee joint loading found the effects on forces inside the knee were small and not statistically significant. A separate biomechanical review in the Journal of Orthopaedic and Sports Physical Therapy noted that despite strong evidence exercise reduces pain, no formal recommendations yet exist for using exercise specifically to protect the joint from further wear.

None of that contradicts what the clinic teaches patients to do. It simply means the “less pressure on the joint” framing describes a goal researchers are still studying, not a settled fact measured in every patient. Strengthening the glutes to support a painful knee is a mainstream, sensible strategy. The size of its effect on the joint’s actual mechanical load remains an open scientific question.

Why The Simplicity Matters

Part of what makes this routine spread online is how little it asks of the viewer. No gym, no equipment, no complicated setup. Just stand up and squeeze. That accessibility explains why the clinic’s glute-and-knee content routinely pulls tens of thousands of views across its channel, with related videos on walking mechanics and hip pain drawing even larger audiences.

For readers managing real knee pain, the practical takeaway is straightforward. Building glute strength through simple, repeatable holds is a low-risk habit worth trying alongside a doctor’s guidance. Just keep expectations realistic. Feeling stronger and moving easier is a proven benefit. Reversing bone-on-bone damage is not something any 10-second squeeze can promise.

Anyone dealing with severe or worsening knee pain should still loop in a physical therapist or orthopedic doctor before building a home routine. Exercises like these work best as one piece of a larger plan, not a replacement for medical evaluation.