Hey, happy Monday!
I forgot to take a photo of what we did last Friday. The videographer came over to my house, and we filmed some more YouTube videos for you. So, watch out for those videos in the next two to three weeks.
Today, I will share a number of exercises that will help strengthen your knees if you suffer from knee pain and discomfort.
Enjoy!
CLICK HERE to watch the YouTube video.
I got Jenna to demonstrate the Knee Strengthening Exercises for Arthritis
1. Seated Leg Raises on the Floor
Sit on the floor with your hands at your sides and your toes pointing straight up. Relax and contract your quad as you lift one leg a few inches off the ground slowly, and then lower it down.
Seated Leg Raises on the Floor
If you are not able to lift your leg off the ground, that’s fine. Contract the quad and lift the leg a little bit or just a portion of the weight of your leg.
Perform one set of 5 reps in a smooth, controlled movement, with a nice contraction. Hold the top position for a few seconds. Intensity is light with the purpose of working on the activation, endurance and strengthening of the muscles in the quadriceps and hips.
2. Seated Leg Raises Using a Chair
Sit on a chair. Contract your quad and extend your leg out. Slowly lift your leg up. Ideally, your leg should be parallel with your thigh. Slowly bring your leg down to the starting position.
Seated Leg Raises Using a Chair
Perform one set of 5 reps in a smooth, controlled movement, with a good contraction at the top. Intensity is light with the purpose of working on the activation, endurance and strength of the muscles in the quad and hips areas.
3. Half Squat
Begin by standing upright. Separate your feet to approximately shoulder-width apart, with your toes slightly out to the side. Place your hands out front, bring your hips back, and squat down. Raise your body up slowly as you return to the starting position. Squat down to whatever level you can.
Half Squat
Perform one set of 5 reps in a smooth, controlled movement, with a good stop at the bottom. Intensity is light to moderate, depending on how strong you are in your knees and hips. This exercise helps in strengthening the muscles around your hips and knees. Also, it encourages good tracking of your legs for good movement of the knee over the foot and hip alignment.
4. Sits to Stand
Sit upright on a chair or something firm with your hands to the side. Move from a sitting position to a standing position, and then back to a sitting position. You can use your hands to guide you when doing this exercise.
Sits to Stand
Perform one set of 5 reps in a smooth, controlled movement, with a good stop at each of the positions. Intensity is light to moderate, depending on how strong you are in the knees and hips. With this exercise, you are working on strengthening the muscles around the knee and the hip.
Give these four exercises a go. These are easy and effective knee strengthening exercises, especially if you have arthritis.
If you are looking for a program to help eliminate your knee discomfort, then click here to check out the Knee Pain Solved program, here!
Take care!
Rick Kaselj, MS