A lot of us have knee pain or knee discomfort from time to time, especially as we get older.
Exercises To Strengthen Your Knees
Here are some exercises that can help to strengthen your knees and alleviate pain:
Wall Slides
Stand with your back against a wall and your feet hip-distance apart.
Bend your knees and slowly lower your body down the wall.
Keep your back pressed against the wall and your weight in your heels.
Hold the position for a few seconds before slowly sliding back up.
Repeat 10-15 times.
Seated Leg Extension
Sit on the floor with your back straight and your legs extended in front of you.
Slowly raise one leg, keeping your knee straight.
Hold the position for a few seconds before lowering your leg back down.
Repeat 10-15 times on each leg.
Gentle Squats
Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart and your toes facing forward.
Slowly lower your body as if you were sitting back in a chair.
Keep your back straight and your weight in your heels.
Keep your knees behind your toes and at a 90-degree angle.
Hold for a second, then slowly raise your body back to the starting position.
Repeat 10-15 times.
Heel Raises
Stand behind a chair or counter for support, with your feet hip-width apart.
Slowly raise your heels off the ground, lifting your body onto the balls of your feet.
Keep your back straight and engage your core.
Hold for a second, then slowly lower your heels to the ground.
Repeat 10-15 times.
Bridge
Lie on the floor on your back with your knees bent and feet hip distance appart. Feet should be parallel to each other.
Lift your hips up leaving your arms on the floor for support. Repeat the lifting and lowering of the hips 10-15 times.
Toe Raises
Stand behind a chair or counter for support, with your feet hip-width apart.
Slowly raise up onto your toes.
Keep your back straight and engage your core.
Hold for a second, then slowly lower your heels to the ground.
Repeat 10-15 times.
Here is a really interesting video on exercises to strengthen your knees that you can do in the comfort of your own home.
No matter how old you are, it’s never too late to start exercising and taking care of your knee health. By choosing exercises that are easy on the knees and incorporating them into your workout routine, you can alleviate knee pain and improve your overall mobility.
Knee health is something many people overlook until pain or mobility issues arise, so it’s great to see attention given to proactive strengthening. I’m wondering how these exercises might be adapted for individuals recovering from surgery or dealing with arthritis. Are there specific modifications or precautions? Also, would incorporating resistance bands or light weights eventually improve outcomes, or could that risk overstraining the joint? It would be interesting to know how frequently these exercises should be done for lasting impact without risking overuse. Are there signs people should watch for to know when it’s time to scale back or seek professional guidance?
If recovering from surgery, you should get instructions from your doctor on what exercises you are allowed to do. Also doing these exercises once a day should be sufficient for most people, unless you really want to get strong!
Michael, I liked your post about exercise for the knees. Many people have pain and issues with their knees at some point, especially as we age. I think the exercises you point out and describe can help strengthen knees and legs. I’m in a wheelchair because of back degeneration in my discs, but I do some of those exercises myself to try and maintain the ability to stand and walk some with my walker. I do the lower left lifts, toe and heel raises, and my version of squats from my chair to stand and back. I can’t do the floor exercises or some of the wall ones because I need the support of a walker. But the ones I can do help me keep some leg strength and the ability to walk a few steps, like going to the car and transferring from a wheelchair to a bed or chair. Your blog site looks nice, and you have described several good exercises to strengthen knees, and also included the YouTube video, which also shows some exercises. Good job. – Shirley
Well done to you Shirley for finding a way to do your exercises. There are also many knee exercises that you can do from a seated position to strengthen your knees.