Knee replacement therapy exercises should begin as soon as possible after surgery and continue for the duration of your recovery.
I wanted to go through another knee replacement therapy exercise that I end up giving my clients and recommend.
Now let me go through the second one; you will need two different types of balls, a large stability ball (for me, this is 65cm) and the other one could be a kid’s ball or a Pilates ball.
I will show this to you from two different angles.
I get the individual to sit down, and if they don’t feel comfortable sitting down into a 65cm ball if it’s too deep for them to squat into, I can end up utilizing a 75cm or 85cm ball that will decrease how much knee flexion and hip flexion is needed to get into the exercise.
1. Ball Squeeze
How I have them sitting is I have them sitting at whatever range that they feel comfortable with. A lot of people will end up being at 90 degrees. I’ve got them sitting on the ball. I’ve got the knee in line with the hip and the knee in line with the foot.
And now I am going to take the small ball and place it between the knees. And I will get them to squeeze into the ball a little bit.
The thing that I want them to watch out for with the little ball is I don’t want it to be pressing up against any painful areas or any sensitive scars, so they will end up adjusting, and they can put it a little higher up their thigh, or they can end up putting it between their knees. If they put it a little higher up, they can avoid those painful or sensitive areas and work on the adductors more.
I will get them to squeeze the ball lightly. And with that lightly squeezing, the ball ends up activating all those adductors and groin area, so more abdominal inner unit muscles.
2. Ball Squeeze with Rocking
The next thing that I want them to do is rock forward and rock back, maintaining that pressure with good upright posture, and then I am going to get them to rock forward and rock back within pain-free ranges of motion when it comes to the knee.
I would start it off with one set of 5 repetitions; then, I would progress into ten repetitions, with 2 or 3 sets added. I am trying to focus on increasing the number of reps they do.
After they do the five repetitions, they can take a break when the exercise is done.
Let me show it to you from the side (you can see it in the above video), so I am having the client sit with their knees and feet hip-width apart. I am putting the ball in and squeezing it, holding it between my thighs as I move forward and back.
If there’s any concern with the balance, I can get them to put a hand on the railing or hand on the wall, and they go to the point they can be pain-free and come back to pain-free and going back and forth pain-free.
The ball ends up working the hips, the adductors specifically, and more of the deep core muscles, like inner unit muscles, and then we end up working on flexion extension of the knee. And also, when it comes to adduction, it works on the vastus medialis oblique (vmo).
So there you go with this second knee replacement exercise to give a go if you are recovering from a knee replacement, or you can get your client to go through it.
Make sure you watch the other video I went through on my YouTube channel regarding Knee Replacement Therapy Exercises.
CLICK HERE to watch the YouTube video.
Plus, subscribe to this YouTube channel with the subscribe button above the video.
If you are looking for a knee replacement program to help you get back to pain-free and recovering from knee replacement so you can get back to enjoying and living your life, you can look at the program that I use, which is at KneeReplacementHandbook.com.
Take care and bye-bye
Rick Kaselj, MS
