@hope

I’m still not doing anything direct with knees. It just isn’t smart for me. Sucks, but that’s the deal. Find myself on cables more, being even more careful with my joints all over the place, and doing more for my core.

Based! Core work and cables will get you superpowers (if you like them enough, not my case with cables).

Not qualified to offer advice yadda yadda ymmv but in my experience giving my knees a retirement was the answer. I can bike, I can do yoga (not the lotus), it feels almost normal but I give it consideration. “Early retirement” means no heavy squats, no lunges, knee heavy compound movements. In yoga I “lean in” until there’s mild discomfort but no pain and I make slow progress, but patience is the name of the game! Wishing you interesting alternative routes in the body map, sometimes injury is the teacher that shows you the into a different realm of the body (there are many besides strength, but strength is a damn fine practice).

Aside: finally I feel like I can speak to you easily h0p3! Entering sacrament with you was behind a wall of procrastinating perfectionism excuses that Fable destroyed. May the sandpeople bring us together brother.