Fix Your Knee Pain: A Routine For Healthy Knees
Heres where things get fun
If you have existing knee pain , there are 3 main things youll want to focus on:
For the first two, see our leg strength routine and our hip mobility routine. For the third focus, though, the following routine will be an important key to getting your knees feeling better.
One note before we get into the routine: The idea with these exercises is not to work through your painplease do not do that! Go slowly, and only work within ranges that do not exacerbate your knee pain. Over time, those ranges may increase, but for now, just work at your own level.
As you can see, the purpose of these movements is not to get a workout or to try to get as many reps as you can. The purpose is to introduce your body, and specifically your knees, to movements in different planes.
Giving your knees this kind of regular motion will help them start to feel more at ease with movement. Plus, by getting comfortable with these types of movements in a controlled and gentle manner, youll increase your ability to avoid re-injuring your knee if you wind up moving in those ways, even if inadvertently.
Strengthening Exercises For Your Knees
Expert reviewer, Lucy Rath, Bupa Senior PhysiotherapistNext review due January 2023
Doing regular exercise of any type will always bring about benefit. Keeping your knees and surrounding muscles strong can help reduce stiffness, prevent injury in the first place and aid recovery of a current injury.
Below is a series of exercises you can try at the gym or in the comfort of your own home, to help keep your knees strong.
Remember, start slowly and only do as much as you can manage without feeling any pain. These exercises aren’t a replacement for expert advice, so please speak to your doctor or physiotherapist if you arent sure.
Focus Your Efforts Elsewhere
Just because you are experiencing knee pain doesnt necessarily mean that the knee itself is the source of the discomfort. When assessing knee pain, looking at how the foot/ankle moves, is a great place to start.
Failure for the ankle to move throughout its full range of motion can lead to compensatory movements, which normally ends up finds itself occuring at the knee. Attempting to perform compound movements in the gym, jumping, sprinting, or even simple things such as going down stairs, all require adequate ankle mobility, especially into dorsiflexion range of motion. Address and clean up your ankle mobility with these drills below:
#1 Half Kneeling 3-Way Ankle Mobilization
The 3-Way Ankle Mobilization is a great drill for addressing joint mobility restrictions that restrict the ankles ability to meaningfully move into dorsiflexion. But remember, we must first figure out what type of ankle mobility restriction we have. Heres a great article from our colleague and fellow DrJohnRusin.com expert Andrew Millett: 10 Exercises To Instantly Improve Ankle Mobility
#2 Push-Up Position Dorsiflexion Rockbacks
The foot/ankle is the first thing that makes contact with the ground, so it is really important for its ability to absorb force. Failure for the foot/ankle to absorb force efficiently can put excess stress on the knee joint over time which can cause some irritation. Improve your ankle mobility and your knee will thank you in the long run.
#3 Glute Bridge Variations
Also Check: Nano Knee Cost
What Can Be Done For A Floating Kneecap
This problem can be treated with arthroscopic surgery. If your kneecap is just slightly displaced, your doctor may advise you to try nonsurgical therapies such as exercises and braces. Exercises will assist to strengthen the muscles in your thigh, allowing your kneecap to remain aligned. A brace will hold your knee in place while it heals.
If your kneecap has moved away from its joint, however, then surgical intervention is required. The two most common surgeries used to treat floating kneecaps are osteotomy-cutting off part of the kneecap-or chondrolysis removing the surface cartilage. Either procedure can help realign the bone ends so that they no longer face outwards or in.
After either operation, you’ll need time to heal before starting physical activity again. It might be recommended that you avoid weight-bearing for up to a year after surgery to allow your bones to fuse together properly.
Floating kneecaps can cause pain, disability, and reduced quality of life. They should be treated by a physician who can assess whether surgery is appropriate for you.
About Article Author
Reasons For Knee Pain
There are many common reasons for knee pain, but a 2015 study published in the journal Best Practice & Research Clinical Rheumatology indicates that most are work related or from past injuries. The study states that symptomatic knee osteoarthritis can be viewed as the end result of a molecular cascade that takes place after certain triggers occur and ultimately results in irreversible damage to the articular cartilage.
The study suggests that while there are multiple causes of knee OA, two have attracted particular attention over recent years: occupation-related knee OA and OA subsequent to a previous knee injury. Studies also report that knee OA is likely to become the eighth most important cause of disability in men and the fourth most important cause of disability in women according to the World Health Organization report on global burden of disease. Three major physical impairments such as knee pain, stiffness and decreased quadriceps strength are highly associated with knee OA and are believed to contribute to physical disability and progression of the disease.
In general, knee pain is typically caused by two things: arthritis or a sports related injury.
1. Arthritis
There are several forms of arthritis that affects the knees: osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, gout, reactive arthritis, lyme disease, lupus, ankylosing spondylitis, psoriatic arthritis and infectious arthritis.
2. Injury
Also Check: Bioknee Cost
Go Short And Frequent
Still, theres a limit to how quickly the joint can adapt to unfamiliar stresses. Jean-François Esculier, head of research for The Running Clinic and Ms. Kahns co-author, suggested that knee pain that persists for more than an hour after exercise, or that shows up the morning after a workout, is a sign that the joint was overloaded. That doesnt mean you need to stop exercising, he said, but that you should adjust what youre doing.
Consider shorter and more frequent workouts. According to Keith Baar, a physiologist at the University of California, Davis, who studies the molecular properties of cartilage and other connective tissues, the cells in cartilage respond positively to exercise for about 10 minutes. After that, youre just accumulating more stress and damage in the tissue with no further adaptive benefits. So, if a weekly two-hour tennis marathon leaves you with aching knees, you might try swapping it out for one-hour sessions twice a week.
Mini Band Lateral Walks
Client begins with a mini band around the thighs located above the knee. In a quarter squat position and feet separated a foot apart, have them walk laterally. Ensure your client looks ahead, keeps feet aligned and toes pointed forward remaining in a squat position for the entire set. Choose a band that provides appropriate resistance for your client to perform the walks without the band overcoming their strength. This can be the case if the client’s knees are caving inward when doing the exercise.
You May Like: Does Aflac Pay For Sprains
Benefits Of Knee Strengthening Exercises
The Arthritis Foundation state that exercise may be the most effective way to treat osteoarthritis without surgery, while the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons note that strong and flexible muscles can keep knees healthy and prevent injury.
Knee strengthening exercises do not affect the knee joint directly, but they strengthen the muscles surrounding it. Strong muscles in the legs can help provide support for the knees. This support may alleviate pressure and strain on these joints, which can relieve pain and help a person be more active.
The following exercises can help strengthen the muscles surrounding the knee. If a person experiences pain during these exercises, they should stop doing them and speak to a doctor. Anyone with severe knee pain should consult a doctor before trying to exercise.
It is best to warm up with light exercise before starting any knee strengthening exercises. Examples of gentle exercise include walking, cycling, and using an elliptical machine, all of which put minimal stress on the knees. This activity will help increase blood flow to the muscles and allow them to be more flexible.
Muscles involved: Quadriceps and abdominal muscles.
How Do I Keep My Knee From Dislocating
The easiest approach to avoid knee dislocation is to live a healthy lifestyle and receive enough rest after intensive physical activities. Because the force necessary to dislocate a knee joint is so great, knee braces are frequently ineffective in preventing dislocation. Instead, you should learn how to give your knees proper support during exercise.
Your knees have a tendency to move out of alignment over time. This can happen for many reasons, but often it is because we sit all day at a computer or drive in car seats for long periods of time. If you aren’t used to providing proper support for your knees, they will suffer as a result. It is important to seek out health care if you experience any pain when moving your body or using your hands. A physician can help diagnose problems and provide treatment options that may include: physical therapy, injections, or surgery.
There are several things one can do to prevent knee dislocations during exercise. The first thing to remember is that you should never force your knee joints through movement they are not designed to sustain. This can be accomplished by making sure you build up to heavy weights over time and that you take regular breaks from working out.
It is also important to wear the right kind of footwear when exercising. You should be wearing shoes that have good support and are fitted properly.
Recommended Reading: Does Aflac Cover Hysterectomy
Tips To Protect Your Knees As You Age
Your knees bear a lot of weight as well as a large responsibility for your ability to effectively get around. They also contain a lot of moving parts, from ligaments and cartilage to muscles and bones, that can become damaged either from injury or the natural wear and tear of age, making it difficult to stay active and enjoy everything life has to offer.
Fortunately, Dr. Struan Coleman is an expert in preventive joint care and offers the following tips to help you protect your knee joints as you age:
Is It Safe For Me To Exercise
Are you worried that working out could cause more knee damage or pain? As long as your doctor says its OK, the best thing you can do is to strengthen the muscles that support your knee and keep them flexible. Start slowly, and build up over time. Talk to your doctor about which specific exercises are good for you.
You May Like: What Is The Best Knee Walker
How Often Should You Do Knee
You dont need to slot in knee-strengthening exercises every day in order to see results. In fact, Bochnewetch suggests doing knee-strengthening exercises just two times per week. Pencil them in alongside your usual leg workouts, or as a separate standalone routine, she says.
As a general rule of thumb, do each exercise for 8 to 12 reps and 2 to 3 sets. If youre using weights, choose a weight that will allow you to perform reps at an intensity that feels between a 6 and 8 on difficulty scale of 1 to 10 , Bochnewetch advises.
Exercises To Strengthen Your Knee Without Causing Pain
Do you have knee pain? Read on.
Knee Pain Symptoms can occur to people of all ages and the most common causes of knee pain are related to injury, age, or repeated stress on the knee. Many types of minor knee pain respond well to self-care measures and knee strengthening.
Doing things like squats and lunges can aggravate your knee pain. It can get frustrating because you want to strengthen your knee but dont know what exercises to do. The important thing is to strengthen the muscles around the knee joint . Its also important to look at your hips and ankles joints as well. If they are tight and weak it will affect your knee. There are ways you can strengthen your knee without any pain.
Here are 5 knee-friendly exercises that you can start doing today!
1. Isometric contraction of the knee
This doesnt look like much, but its about firing the quad muscles and learning to establish a mind miscue connection. Do 3 sets of 10 and hold for 3 seconds.
2. Hip flexion
lift the leg from the hip while the quad is contracted, keep the leg straight. Do 2 sets of 10.
3. Short arch knee extension
Use a towel or foam roller.
4. Bridge
Straighten the hamstrings and squeeze the glute.
5. Hip side raise
Strengthen the abductor, do it on both sides.
Do all of these exercises 3-4 times a week to see improvements.
Also Check: Nano Knee Surgery Cost
Heel And Calf Stretch
This stretch targets the muscles in your lower leg, specifically your calf muscles.
To do this stretch:
What Not To Do
- Do not let the back arch during the exercise.
- Do not jerk or bounce the leg or lift it above the knee on the bent leg.
- People who have osteoporosis or a back compression fracture should not perform this exercise.
Muscles involved: Hamstrings and gluteal muscles.
Recommended Reading: Flying After Knee Replacement Surgery
What Causes A Knee To Pop Out Of Place
Your knee relies on a variety of cartilage, ligaments, and tendons to operate properly. A dislocated knee happens when the thighbone’s position relative to the shinbone is altered at the knee joint. Trauma to your leg, such as from falls, sports injuries, or vehicle accidents, can cause it. As you get older, you are more likely to experience knee dislocations because of changes that occur within your bones and joints.
The most common cause of a spontaneous knee dislocation is also the easiest to prevent: trauma to the leg. If you play sports or have other physical activities in your life, you should know how to give yourself proper protection against injury. For example, if you plan to participate in athletic events such as basketball or soccer, you should be sure to wear appropriate footwear for the conditions. You also need to make sure that you do not engage in activity with your knee bent up under your chest – this places excessive stress on the ligaments and muscles surrounding the joint.
If you encounter a situation where giving your knee a good jolt would help reduce pain or prevent further damage, then feel free to jump back into action! However, if you continue to suffer from knee pain even after an injury has healed, see your doctor so that he/she can determine the source of your problem.
Exercises To Strengthen Your Knees
Strengthening your knees isn’t just important for having optimal fitness and sports performance, it’s also important for preventing serious injuries, like tears to the crucial ligaments in and surrounding your knees. Certain strengthening exercises can help build the muscles in your legs that help support your knees and give you the confidence you need to exercise without having to worry about injury.
Read Also: Inversion Table Benefits For Knees
How To Strengthen Your Knees
This article was co-authored by Monica Morris. Monica Morris is an ACE Certified Personal Trainer based in the San Francisco Bay Area. With over 15 years of fitness training experience, Monica started her own physical training practice and gained her ACE Certification in 2017. Her workouts emphasize proper warm-ups, cool-downs, and stretching techniques.There are 11 references cited in this article, which can be found at the bottom of the page.wikiHow marks an article as reader-approved once it receives enough positive feedback. This article received 12 testimonials and 97% of readers who voted found it helpful, earning it our reader-approved status. This article has been viewed 1,295,117 times.
Its important to keep your knees strong and healthy so that your mobility doesnt deteriorate as you grow older. We often take the health of our knees for granted, not noticing theres a problem until everyday activities like lifting boxes or walking downhill become painful. Take the following measures to strengthen your knees and ensure youll stay active for as long as possible.