Living Pain-Free: Exercises for Stronger Knees

It’s amazing, but not surprising, how much knee pain keeps people from being able to do what they love. You see it with professional athletes and your elderly neighbors—knee trouble inhibits activity. Knees are crucial supporting joints, allowing you to move around and helping you absorb shock and impacts. When they hurt, you struggle to move around. The good news is that strong knees are comfy knees. The stronger your joints are, the less they are prone to pain and injuries. You can easily strengthen your own knees at home.

Your knees are important joints. They help absorb shock and hard impacts when you walk, run, and jump. They allow your legs to move efficiently. The support your weight and help you propel yourself forward. All this use does mean they suffer from wear and tear over time.

Keeping them strong helps you avoid joint damage and make injuries less likely. This is something you can easily do on your own. Here are a few simple exercises to help you keep your knees at their best:

• Hamstring Curls – Balancing on one leg, slowly lift the other foot straight behind you, only bending your knee.
• Knee Stabilizers – Balancing on one leg, lift your other leg to the side and hold it for a few seconds. Then return to neutral and repeat. Do this lifting your leg forward and backward as well.
• Wall Sits – With your back against a wall, slide down so you’re “sitting” like you would in a chair, with your legs and the wall supporting your weight. Hold for as long as you can.
• Stair Steps – Step one step up a staircase, using just one leg, then lower to neutral. Repeat with the other leg.

It’s also important to stretch out regularly, too, to prevent your muscles and connective tissues from becoming too tense and pulling on your knees. Toe-touches stretch out your hamstrings while quad stretches loosen the muscles on top of your thighs.