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How Do You Make Your Knees Stronger

Exercise For Stronger Knees And Hips

10 Minutes to Stronger Knees

Exercise is more than just a good health habit it’s also a specific and effective treatment for many knee and hip problems. Strength in the muscles around a damaged knee or hip can help support that joint by taking over some of its responsibilities. For example, your hips have to do less work to support your body weight if your quadriceps, gluteals, hamstrings, and abdominal muscles are stronger. A strong quadriceps can take over the shock-absorbing role usually played by the meniscus or cartilage in the knee.

The proper balance of strength in the muscles can hold the joint in the most functional and least painful position. With any knee or hip problem, the first muscles to lose strength are the largest antigravity muscles, the quadriceps and gluteals, so an exercise plan for any injury is likely to focus on these.

Muscles work in pairs one contracts while the opposing one relaxes. For example, when you straighten your knee, your quadriceps on the front of your thigh contracts, and the hamstrings on the back relax. Imbalances in the function of paired muscles can cause joint problems and invite injury. If your hamstrings are tight, your quadriceps can’t contract fully and may weaken, so exercise the quadriceps and hamstrings equally. Flexibility exercises are an important part of an exercise plan to improve joint function.

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.

  • Stand straight with the knees only 12 inches apart. Hold on to a stable chair, the countertop, or another object for balance.
  • Slowly bend one knee behind the body, lifting the heel off the floor while keeping the thighs aligned. Continue to lift the heel in a smooth motion until the knee bend reaches a 90-degree angle. Keep the straight leg slightly bent to avoid locking it.
  • Hold the bent leg up for 5 seconds and then slowly lower it to the floor.
  • Repeat two more times with the same leg.
  • Switch sides and repeat.
  • Do Squats Strengthen Knees

    Although many of us have heard the contrary, squats can actually strengthen your knees if performed in the proper way.

    It is an easy exercise that can be used to target the muscles around the joint.

    The movement that should be avoided in order to protect these joints is bending forward. This motion puts added pressure on your knees and can lead to injury.

    Otherwise, it is a great exercise that can be done in the comfort of your own home to help strengthen your knees!

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    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.

    Move : Hip Adduction With Ball

    These 5 Simple Workouts That You Can Do to Make Your Knees Stronger ...

    The goal here is to strengthen your hip adductor muscles. “By keeping the hip muscles strong, it prevents improper positioning of the knees, which avoids necessary strain,” Prestipino says.

  • Lie on your back with your arms at your sides, feet flat on the ground and knees bent. Place a Pilates ball in between your knees.
  • Use your inner thighs to squeeze in on the ball as much as you can.
  • Slowly release, but make sure to keep the ball from falling out.
  • Tips:

    • Avoid placing your feet too close to your butt, as this can cause unnecessary strain on the knees. Your feet should be far enough away that you cant touch them if you extend your arms, but close enough that you can just tap them with your fingertips if you reach and shift slightly to one side.

    Modifications:

    • Instead of bending your knees, extend your legs straight and perform the same exercise.

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    Front Scale Quarter Circle

    The front scale is an exercise with many benefits, but this variation is especially good for improving balance and coordination with straight leg positioning. Those are important attributes for the health of your knees because theyll help you control your movements in precarious positions.

    • Stand with feet together, and raise one leg up in the air. Keep both knees locked out as you do so, and maintain an upright posture.
    • Once your front leg is at the top position , keep your torso stable as you rotate your leg out to the side, opening up the hip.
    • Dont be concerned about how much you are able to lift your leg, or how far you can rotate it outward. Just work within the ranges that you can.

    Changing Your Lifestyle To Strengthen Your Knees

  • 1Add anti-inflammatory foods to your diet. Joints become weakened and painful when they are inflamed, so adding foods that are known to be anti-inflammatory to your diet may help keep your knees strong. XResearch source
  • Fish, flax seeds, olive oil, avocados, and whole fruits and vegetables are said to have anti-inflammatory properties.
  • 2Make sure you get enough vitamin E. Vitamin E is believed to hinder enzymes that break down the cartilage in the joints. Spinach, broccoli, peanuts, mango, and kiwi are excellent sources of vitamin E. XResearch source
  • 3Eat more calcium. Bone health is also important for knee strength, so take measures to prevent osteoporosis. Cow milk, yogurt, soy, cheese, and goat milk are good sources are calcium. Leafy greens are also beneficial.
  • 4Stop doing activities that hurt. If you experience a lot of knee pain doing certain activities, chances are you arent strengthening your knees by continuing. Try lower impact exercises for a while to give your knees a rest. After a few months of focusing on leg muscle strength and flexibility, you may find youre able to do your favorite activities without pain.Advertisement
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    Jump Landing With Control

    The last in this sequence helps to improve knee control in movement, with the added layer of impact.

    • Start with a basic broad jump, but focus on landing softly with bent knees, and control your landing.
    • Once youre comfortable with that, play around with jumping on a diagonal, or with one leg at a time.
    • The key with any of the variations shown is to focus on control. Jumping is perfectly safe for the kneesif done with safe technique.

    Get Stronger Using Your Own Body

    How To Strengthen Your Knees

    As you can see from the exercises to strengthen knees above, you dont need a lot of fancy equipment in order to get fitter. Sometimes all you need is your own body.

    Thats why I created this downloadable Bodyweight Workout!

    This 6-exercise circuit will help you burn more fat while getting stronger. It includes an instructional video, workout tracker, and follow-along audio.

    A $29 value its yours FREE! Just click the image below to get it now.

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    How To Strengthen Knee Tendons And Ligaments

    11 July, 2020

    Tendons and ligaments are vital components of the bodys structure. In this article we focus on the knee tendons and ligaments, as they are so important for mobility. Their job is to connect the muscles to the bones, facilitating proper joint function.

    If you have put a lot of strain on your knees and are suffering from pain, this article might interest you. You should know that your knee tendons and ligaments require proper nutrition to give them all the necessary vitamins and minerals that keep them strong. This in turn can help improve your quality of life and reduce pain. Find out more in today´s article.

    Here’s What You Need To Know

  • Stretching sometimes makes things worse.
  • If your knees hurt while doing squats, box squats are a perfectly viable option.
  • The American deadlift encourages more posterior pelvic tilt, which will fix excessive anterior pelvic tilt and strengthen the hips.
  • Screw traditional mobility, stability, and activation based warm-up drills. Instead, use “flow based” warm-ups.
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    How To Increase Knee Flexibility

    Your knees are complex machines that contain many tendons, ligaments and cartilage. They work to connect the bones and muscles in your lower and upper legs. Your knees may get sore and sustain injuries if you use them a lot but don’t take steps to maintain them. Stretching and strengthening the structures and muscles that support your knees will help reduce your risk of developing long-term problems in those joints.

    Video of the Day

    Move 1: Short Arc Quads

    Best exercises &  stretches for knee pain

    Unlike some other more traditional quad-strengthening moves, this exercise gets the job done without putting any weight on the knee joint, Prestipino says.

  • Lie on your back with a bolster, rolled-up towel or foam roller underneath both knees. Keep your lower back pressed into the floor.
  • Squeeze your quad muscles in one leg so that the leg gets rigid and the knee completely straightens.
  • Hold the contraction for a few seconds before relaxing the leg again.
  • Tips:

    • Avoid lifting your leg off the bolster, towel or foam roller that will get into the hip joint instead of focusing on the muscles surrounding your knee joint.

    Modifications:

    • Use a smaller bolster or fold a pillow or towel under the knees to reduce the range of motion of the leg, she says.

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    Whats Causing Your Knee Crunching And Pain

    For now, lets leave specific, traumatic knee injuries asideafter all, when those happen, for the most part, you know what went wrong. And youve probably got a recovery plan in place with your physician and physical therapist.

    Also more commonly, both serious and relatively minor knee injuries are non-contact knee injuries. Ligaments and muscles can be sprained and strained without being tackled or anything hitting your knee. These injuries occur from excessive forces at the knee due to misalignments in landing from jumps or running, and can have a lot to do with improper habitual movement patterns.

    To explain this further, lets do a quick rundown of how the knee works

    Move : Supine Heel Slide

    This is another one that helps strengthen those hammies and promotes blood flow in the knees.

  • Lie flat on your back. Bend one of your knees at a 90-degree angle so that your foot is flat on the floor and extend your other leg.
  • Place a slider underneath the foot of your extended leg, then bring it in, bending your knee so that it comes in next to the other knee.
  • Pause for a second, and then slowly slide your leg back out, keeping the toes flexed.
  • Switch sides and continue to alternate.
  • Tips:

    • Avoid sliding your feet too far backward, which will place unnecessary strain on the knees, she says.

    Modifications:

    • Shorten the range of motion and stop when you start to feel pressure.

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    Maintain A Healthy Weight

    Obesity is a major risk factor for problems in the knee. The knee bears a lot of pressure from the body during activities like walking and running. A heavy weight increases the pressure placed on the knee jointparticularly as your level of activity increases. Even small weight losses can help. Maintaining a healthy body mass index is a good goal to set to protect your joints.

    Strengthen The Muscles That Support Your Knees

    How to make your knees stronger

    Developing strong thigh muscles especially the quadriceps, hamstrings and abductors improves range of motion, protects knee cartilage and reduces the stress you place on the knee, says Richard Willy, an assistant professor of physical therapy at the University of Montana School of Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation Sciences. Get in the habit of doing squats and lunges twice a week, making sure that your knees stay above your feet and don’t extend in front of your toes. After age 50, avoid squatting below a 90-degree angle , because deep squats increase pressure on the knees, Cardone warns. If you prefer to use weight machines, opt for the leg press, hamstring curl, knee extension and outer-thigh machines, Willy advises.

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    Anatomy Of A Healthy Knee

    The knee joins the largest bone in the bodythe femurto the tibia. The bottom of the femur, or thigh bone, is connected to the tibia by a cap-shaped piece of bone called the patella, or knee cap. Each of these bones is covered with a thin, smooth coating called articular cartilage.

    There are two tough, rubbery pieces of cartilage between the femur and tibia. Combined, these pieces of cartilage are called the meniscus, and act as shock absorbers between the two bones.

    The four main ligaments that help control movement and support the joint are the anterior , posterior , medial , and lateral cruciate ligaments. The entire knee is also surrounded by a fluid-filled membrane called a synovial membrane. This membrane produces a fluid that lubricates the cartilage in the joint to reduce friction during movement.

    It can be difficult to maintain this joint when each step you take puts about one-and-a-half times of your body weight worth of pressure on it. This is why it’s important to take care of your joint early to prevent knee damage.

    An active person takes about 10,000 steps each day. This means that each knee is shouldering about 5,000 steps every single day. For an adult weighing 150 pounds, each knee joint bears about 225 pounds per step, or more than 1.1 million pounds per day.

    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.

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    Exercises For The Knees

    There is no ideal or terrible group of exercises for the knees. Squats and lunges seem to be labeled as not so good for the knees. But this is different for each client and the type of issue they have.

    Takeaway: Avoid any exercise that causes pain, not just squats or lunges.

    Isometric exercises help in strengthening the knee. They limit the risk of injury or further damage because of less joint range of motion. Avoiding as much change in muscle length as possible will help alleviate pressure that is normally placed on the joint.

    Try these exercises with your clients to help strengthen knees. A lot of these are also found in corrective exercise programs.

    The 7 Most Effective Exercises To Strengthen Weak Knees Experts Say

    Best Knee Strengthening Yoga Poses: Yoga For People With Bad Knees ...

    Knee problems can be caused by an injury or certain health issues, according to Mayo Clinic. Weak knees can create much havoc, as they can leave you unable to perform the tasks that are potentially required for both your job and daily life. Weak knees may also keep you from indulging in activities that bring you much joy. Fortunately, there are ways to strengthen weak knees, and we have the absolute best exercises for your workout routine.

    Let’s get started by understanding more about this crucial part of your body. “The knee is a joint that is inherently very mobile which allows for large ranges of motion making walking, squatting, lunging, etc. to be capable,” Greg LeBlanc PT, DPT, OCS at Baton Rouge Physical Therapy-Lake, tells Eat This, Not That! LeBlanc continues to explain, “We gain some additional stability for the knee with our ligaments and muscles. Strong muscles act as shock absorbers for the knee joint during our normal functioning. we can keep the muscles that surround and support the knee means less stress placed on the joint and ligaments.” LeBlanc notes, “This can ultimately reduce pain and injury while improving function avoid having weak knees.”

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    Exercises That Keep Your Knees Healthy

    A strength plan to keep your vulnerable joints healthy.

    Dr. Jordan Metzls plan for pain-free knees: strength training. Your feet, lower legs, knees, thighs, hips, lower back, core, and arms are all part of your running kinetic chain, and when one link isnt working, the repercussions can be felt all the way up or down the chain.

    Strong quads will help stabilize your knee, and strong hips, glutes, and core muscles prevent your hip from dropping and your knee from caving in. Doing these exercises twice a week will keep your kneesand the rest of your bodyin proper working order.

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    Jump SquatExtend your arms in front of you. Squat down, pushing your butt back. Explode up as high as you can and land softly. Maintain good anatomical position and keep the motion controlled, landing softly. Do 4 sets of 15.

    Walking LungeStep forward and lunge down. Then bring your back foot forward and swing it in front, lunging with that leg. Continue lunging forward, alternating legs. Do 3 sets of 15 reps, counting right and left together as 1 rep.

    Low Side-To-Side LungeClasp your hands and shift your weight to your left leg and lower your body, bending your left knee and pushing your butt back. Without raising yourself all the way to standing, shift to the right. Alternate back and forth for 15 reps on each side. Do 3 sets.

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