Knee pain is almost always a hip problem. Your knee is a hinge, caught in the middle, absorbing forces it was never built to handle alone. Garrett finds where your hip stopped doing its job and teaches you how to take the load off your knee yourself.
Book your first sessionYour knee doesn't decide how it moves. It follows instructions from your hip above and your foot below. When your hip stops controlling that motion, the knee absorbs forces it was never designed to handle.
When the muscles on the side and back of your hip aren't doing their job, your thigh bone rotates inward with every step. That pulls your kneecap off its natural track and loads structures that weren't built for that stress. It's the single most common pattern behind chronic knee pain.
The standard approach to knee pain is quad strengthening. But if your hip isn't controlling your thigh bone, you're just loading a misaligned joint harder. You end up with stronger legs and the same faulty pattern, and the pain stays because the cause never moved.
Braces redirect force for a while. Cortisone reduces inflammation for a while. Neither changes the movement pattern overloading your knee in the first place. Garrett works both ends of the problem at once. What's overworking releases. What went quiet wakes back up.
The body wants balance, not pain relief. Once your hip is controlling your leg again, your knee stops absorbing forces that were never meant for it.
Full assessment, guided protocols, and a take-home practice. About 60 minutes, in San Francisco or over video.
Garrett assesses how your hip, knee, and foot are sharing load, not just where it hurts. That's usually the pattern behind years of knee pain.
Using a yoga block or pull-up bar, Garrett guides you through positions matched to your specific pattern. You're moving, not lying on a table.
Most clients feel steadier tracking and less pinching around the kneecap before the session ends. The parts that were overworking start to let go.
You leave with a short practice for what you worked on, about five minutes on your living room floor, to keep the change going between sessions.
Virtual sessions work well for knee pain. Garrett watches your movement and alignment over video and guides you through the same protocols in real time.
I've spent decades not listening to my body. Retirement gave me the time. Garrett showed me how.Victor · Newly Retired
If something isn't here, ask on a free discovery call. Garrett answers everything before you book a paid session.
A clean MRI is good news. It means there's no structural damage, which means the pain is mechanical. Mechanical knee pain comes from how forces are being sent to the joint from the hip above. Your knee is being loaded in a way it wasn't designed for because something upstream has stopped doing its job. This pattern is highly correctable without surgery or injections.
Runner's knee, or patellofemoral pain, is pain around or behind the kneecap, usually worse going downstairs or after sitting for a while. It happens because the kneecap isn't tracking correctly, and that's almost always because the hip isn't controlling thigh bone rotation. Correcting the hip restores normal tracking and the pain resolves. Most runners can keep running while working through the protocols.
Foam rolling temporarily releases tension in the IT band, but it doesn't change why the IT band is tight. The IT band is overworking because the hip muscles aren't doing their job. Every step you take without adequate hip control reloads the tension. Restoring hip function removes the source of the tightness and lets the IT band settle on its own.
If the recommendation is based on osteoarthritis or chronic degeneration, it's worth trying a conservative approach first. Many people see real pain reduction by improving hip mechanics and reducing the abnormal load on the knee joint, even with documented cartilage changes. The goal isn't to reverse the degeneration. It's to stop the pattern that's been accelerating it.
It's a contributing factor for a lot of people. Prolonged sitting changes how the front and back of your hip share the work. The front gets tight, the back stops engaging. When you stand up and walk, your hip can't control your thigh bone properly, and the knee absorbs the consequences. The protocols in the Amari Method are designed to counteract what sitting does to your hip mechanics.
Book a session with Garrett. If you don't experience noticeable relief, he keeps working with you until you do, at no additional charge.
$225 · First session · San Francisco + virtual