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6 Moves for Stronger Knees

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If you suffer from knees that feel like they have been bludgeoned with a scalding hot tire iron, you are not alone. One study from Gallup-Healthways found that 26% of the adult population in the US suffers from knee pain.

 Causation can be varied. Over use, under use, mobility restrictions and muscular imbalances are some of the big factors than can factor in to knee pain.  Whatever the reason, you don’t have to live with it. Try adding these exercises and stretches to your daily warm-up routine.
Follow these techniques to strengthen your knees for optimal weightlifting performance.

1) ANKLE BAND DISTRACTIONS

One of the main functions of the ankle is to hinge, enabling the knee and hip to synergistically work together in creating movement. Stiff, rigid ankles are common, which can lead to injury and discomfort. Band distractions serve to “floss” stubborn joints. They can enhance range of motion, get nutrients into cartilage and alleviate pain.

 

How To Do It:

Loop one end of a band around a sturdy base and the other around your ankle. Drop into staggered stance, with the banded leg in front of the non banded leg. Inch out until you feel tension and then drive the knee forward as far as you comfortably can. Keep the banded foot firmly on the ground (not up on your tippy toes) Feel free to rotate the ankle side to side as you drive the knee back and forth. Repeat on both sides for 45 seconds each.

2) ROLL OUT YOUR SHINS

Foam rolling is a tremendous tool for soft tissue work. Fitness enthusiasts use it for their hips, lower back and other trouble zones that can get irritated with frequent use. But there is an area that I rarely see being attacked in my day to day gym-goings- The shins. Perhaps it’s because it’s a tougher group to really hit, or just an oversight because it typically doesn’t feel horrendous. But don’t simply blindly chase pain. Even if that area doesn’t hurt, it could be a big factor contributing to knee issues. In my experience (not 100% mind you) people who suffer from some degree of anterior knee pain feel a great deal of discomfort while trying this movement.

How To Do It

Get into a pushup position with a roller at the base of your ankles. Turn your toe in towards the midline of your body in order to expose the muscles of the shin and address them. Press your shins firmly down on the roller and gradually inch up towards your knee. You completely control the pressure in this movement. For more intensity really lay your body weight into the foam, for less ease back on the throttle. I like trying to move my foot up and down during the rolling and search for hot spots. 45 seconds to a minute on each leg should suffice and free up those important lower leg muscles.

3) WALL QUAD STRETCH

The wall based quad stretch is a tremendous bang for your buck move that can be done just about anywhere. Got a wall? Good you can do this exercise.  The beauty in this stretch is that it hits the front of the foot, ankles, shins, quads and knees.

How To Do It

Get up against the wall (facing away from the wall) in the bottom of a lunge position. Flip your back foot up against the wall with your toes on the actual surface of the wall. Your back knee is the axis point and really determines how much of a stretch you will get during this exercise. The closer the back knee is to the wall the more of a stretch there will be through the foot, ankle and quads. If you are looking to get a little adventurous and want to stretch the hip flexors out, focus on pushing the hips forward.

4) HAMSTRING FLOSSING

The muscles in the hamstring group (semitendinous, bicep femoris and semi membranosus) all cross the knee joint. Issues in any of these muscles can cause knee pain in the posterior (rear) portion of the knee and leg.

How To Do It

Get a hold of a tennis or lacrosse ball and a sturdy box or ledge of about mid thigh height. Sit on the box and place the ball underneath the leg, firmly on the hamstrings. Extend and bend the knee while applying pressure to the muscle. Let the ball go up and down the back of the leg while you continue flexing and straightening the leg. One minute on each leg should have your hamstrings and knees feeling like gold.

5) BAND TKE

A classic rehab exercise, the Terminal Knee Extension serves as a great low impact quad activator. It can get blood flowing to the knee and quad to prepare your lower body for training.

 

How To Do It

Take an exercise band and loop it around a sturdy base. Step into the band with one leg and place it just above the top of the knee. Walk out and get some tension in the band. From there bend and extend the knee, really focusing on straightening the knee completely and contracting the quad as hard as you can. Perform for 25 reps on each side and get ready to feel a ton of blood rush to that area.

6) TFL DISTRACTION

The TFL (Tensor Fasciae Latae) is a small muscle located at the side of your hip just below the crest of your pelvis. When tight and bound up this nasty little bugger can affect the knee by pulling through the IT band and causing pain on the outside of the knee.

How To Do It

Again, we will make use of the versatile exercise band. Loop one end to a stationary object and loop the other end right underneath your butt. Get into a kneeling position with the banded leg in the back and the other leg in front of you (envision a kneeling lunge). Keep your torso tall and turn the banded leg out (internally rotating the hip). When you rotate the leg out you are really able to appropriately address the TFL as it’s a difficult area to stretch.  Squeeze the glute on the banded leg side to really stretch the heck out of the TFL.

Knee pain is no laughing matter and can rob the fun out of rewarding physical activities. Getting a thorough examination from a doctor or physical therapist is always recommended. But, if time or financial issues are a consideration then hopefully these exercises and stretches can serve as a way to alleviate some of the pain and get you squatting and lunging like a pro.

Source: muscleandfitness.com

Knee Trouble? Can Losing Weight Help?

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In my later teen years, I tore up both my knees from riding bulls and saddle broncs for several years. I’ve had partial tears of the anterior cruciate ligament and medial cruciate ligament in both knees and was told I needed surgery to repair them, but have never had the surgery.

When I enlisted in the US Air Force in 1975, both of my knees swelled to the size of large grapefruit during basic training. I was sent to the base hospital where I spent a week being examined and treated by several different doctors. Finally, a doctor who happened to be a full colonel, examined my knees and I’ll never forget hearing him tell me in his thick and slow southern drawl:

“Son, the cartilage in your knees looks like grape-fruit p – u – l – p.”

So ended my six-year enlistment in the Air Force. A year later, a top orthopedic surgeon in our area, who also worked on the local university athletes, told me my knees were so bad that I needed both knee joints replaced. He also told me that there was no way I could possibly stay on my feet and work eight hours a day because of my knees. At the time, I was working 8-14 shifts as a retail manager and I was on my feet most of the that time, and I never have my knee joints replaced.

Over the years, I’ve had knee trouble and have had to learn how to walk and move so that my knees don’t go out-of-joint. For eleven years after I worked retail, I read electric meters for a utility. On that job, I walked an average of 12-15 miles a day, with one particular route that clocked in around 21 miles, and yes, my knees hurt, but I managed. In fact, due to having a genetic immunity to most pain killers (not a fun trait to have), my knees have hurt 24/7 since I was 17-years-old. I’m now 65.

My weight has gone up and down over the years and I found that the heavier I was, the more my knees hurt when I walked. That’s why a particular medical article caught my attention. The article is titled: Can Dropping Some Weight Save Your Knees?

The article stated that over 50% of the people that are 75-years-old or older have osteoarthritis. They defined it as: ‘the wear-and-tear form of the joint disease in which cartilage thins and wears away’. According to the Arthritis Foundation:

“Sometimes called degenerative joint disease or degenerative arthritis, osteoarthritis (OA) is the most common chronic condition of the joints, affecting approximately 27 million Americans. OA can affect any joint, but it occurs most often in knees, hips, lower back and neck, small joints of the fingers and the bases of the thumb and big toe.”

“In normal joints, a firm, rubbery material called cartilage covers the end of each bone. Cartilage provides a smooth, gliding surface for joint motion and acts as a cushion between the bones. In OA, the cartilage breaks down, causing pain, swelling and problems moving the joint.”
Researcher Dr. Alexandra Gersing, who works in the Department of Radiology and Biomedical Imaging at the University of California, San Francisco, conducted a study on knee problems and weight. Her study found that when overweight and obese people lost 5% or more of their body weight over four years, they experienced less degeneration of the knee cartilage compared to those who did not lose weight.

She commented on the study, saying:

“Our study shows that a lifestyle intervention such as weight loss can slow the process of knee joint degeneration in patients at risk for and with osteoarthritis.”
“Therefore, it may slow the worsening of symptoms, such as pain and disability.”

Dr. Gering added:

“Osteoarthritis is one of the major causes of disability worldwide.”

If you are having knee pain and problems and are overweight or obese, try dieting and exercise to lose at least 5% of your body or more. The more weight you lose, the slower the cartilage in your knees will deteriorate and improve your chances to avoid having knee replacements. Trust me. I’ve been there and can tell you first hand that the more weight I’ve lost in the past couple of years, the better my knees felt and when I put the weight back on, the worse they felt.

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