Knee Strengthening Exercises

One of the most effective ways to protect knees from pain or any sort of injury is to exercise and strengthen the muscles that support them. Weak or fatigued muscles fail to sustain the knee joint properly or absorb shocks from accidents. Thus, strengthening the knees adequately, with the help of exercises, helps to tighten the muscles and make them stronger and more flexible. It also helps to increase the shock-absorbing power of the knees. We have mentioned a couple of good exercises here that will help you to stretch and strengthen your knees, with the help of your body weight resistance. Precede each of these exercises below by a 5 minutes warm-up session to increase the blood flow to the muscles.

Knee Circles 

Stand straight, with both your feet together. Now, slowly bend your legs a bit and squat down slightly covering your kneecaps with the palm of your hands. Follow with gentle and slow clockwise movements of your knees, as if making small circles with them. Ensure that the feet are placed firmly on the ground. Do around 10-15 circles and repeat in the anti-clockwise direction. Perform this exercise for about 2-3 times every day, taking care to breathe slowly and deeply throughout the process. It will help to strengthen your knees and ankles and also help to get rid of problems like pain and stiffness in your knee and ankle joints.

 

Stand straight against a wall and spread your legs about shoulder width apart. Try to split the weight between your hip line and knee line. Look straight, keeping your abdominal muscles tight and chest up. Slowly bend your knees, push your hips back and squat down, stopping at the point where you feel comfortable. Now, rise gradually and stop just before your knees are straight. Repeat for at least 5 times. This squatting exercise strengthens the knee and is extremely beneficial for muscles like Gluteus maxumus, abductors, adductors, hamstrings and quadriceps.