In today’s video, I wanted to go through the best knee pain exercises for women.
Best Knee Pain Exercises for Women
CLICK HERE to watch the YouTube video
I’ll get Donnalee to demonstrate.
1. Hip Drop
Place your hand against the wall for some support because you don’t really need to worry about balance at this time. We want to make sure that the exercise is performed correctly. Squat down with a single leg, drop your hip, bring your hip back to square, and then straighten out your leg. We are working out on the outer hip area. Often, women tend to be weak in the outer hip area. If the outer part of the hip is weak, it puts more strain on the knee, leading to knee irritation and knee pain.
Hip Drop
Start off with one set of 3 repetitions in a smooth controlled movement and see how it feels. You want to feel the outer part of the hip working. Progress up to 5 repetitions and then you progress up to 10 repetitions. I would recommend doing this exercise on both sides. Although you may only have knee pain on one side, there is a good chance that you have weakness on both sides.
2. Knee Drives on the Wall
Move up against the wall with your arms extended. Tighten up your abdominal area and glutes. Bring your knee up to just about hip height and then lower it back down.
Knee Drives on the Wall
We are working on the core and strengthening the abdominal area. Women tend to be weak in the core area which affects the knee pain. We are also working on stability in the hip because women’s hip muscles tend to be tight when it comes to hip rotation. Start off with 3 repetitions on each side and see how it feels. If you feel that your abdominal area, hip area and muscles are working, then you can progress to 5 repetitions on each side. You can progress to 10 repetitions in a smooth controlled movement, with 2 seconds hold at the end position.
3. Foam Rolling the Outer Hip
With a foam roller, roll out the outer part of the thigh. Focus on this part because it is often tight. If you are weak in the outer hip part, the muscles in the outer part of the thigh have to work in order to stabilize you in that plain of movement.
Foam Rolling the Outer Hip
Roll to just below your hip joint. Move your body up along with the foam roller to the outer part of the thigh, just below the knee, and then return back down. Start off with 3 repetitions each way. Do one set of smooth controlled movements and hold the end position for about a second. Progress up to 5 repetitions each way, and then progress to 10 repetitions.
I would recommend doing this on both sides. Although your knee pain might only be on one side, there is a good chance that the other side is tight. By avoiding using the painful knee, you are putting more stress on the non-painful hip and knee side. Do the three exercises in order to help that uninjured or non-painful side.
Take care!
Rick Kaselj, MS
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